RIP my Lionheart
● Liz Hurley’s tribute to ex-fiancé Shane Warne after death in Thai villa ● Police rule out foul play and say cricket star had history of heart trouble ● Visit by two masseuses just hours earlier ‘was irrelevant to his death’
HEARTBROKEN Elizabeth Hurley paid tribute to her ‘Lionheart’ ex-fiancé Shane Warne last night as Thai police revealed new details of the cricket legend’s final hours.
The actress, who remained close to Warne after their three-year romance ended in 2013, shared touching pictures of them together on Instagram, writing: ‘I feel like the sun has gone behind a cloud forever. RIP my beloved Lionheart.’
Her son Damian Hurley, 19, also paid tribute to the man who was ‘a father figure to me for most of my formative years and was truly one of the best men I’ve ever known’.
Police in Thailand said they believed Warne, famous for his party-boy reputation, had died of a heart attack at a luxury €2,500-a-night villa on the second day of a lads’ holiday in Koh Samui. He was 52.
The Australian sporting hero – who took 708 test match wickets for his country – was found unresponsive in his room only hours after he was visited by two masseuses on Friday afternoon. Police have ruled out foul play.
Police chief Colonel Yoothana Sirisombat said yesterday that the women were not under suspicion.
‘Two local women went to his villa to give him a relaxing massage earlier in the afternoon,’ he said.
‘The two women went to the villa between 1pm to 2pm, and they left around 3pm.
‘We think the massage was irrelevant to Mr Warne’s death.
‘We know the identities of the two women, but we have not interviewed them yet. There is CCTV of the two women leaving the villa, which we have seen.’
Col Sirisombat said police had searched Warne’s room and did not find any drugs. He revealed the cricketer ‘had a history of heart disease’, adding: ‘He previously had chest pains to his left side, and he had high blood pressure and he also had breathing difficulties. He had these problems in Australia.’
Australia’s ambassador to Thailand, Allan McKinnon, who travelled to Koh Samui yesterday, said Warne’s family wanted his body repatriated quickly. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced he will be given a state funeral.
Warne, a heavy smoker, had been on a crash diet to lose weight – or ‘get shredded’ – as he told fans on social media last week. He checked into the exclusive Samujana resort in Koh Samui on Thursday and was staying with film producer Andrew Neophitou, Gareth Edwards, who runs Warne’s website, and John Dopere, who is the general manager of the luxury villa resort.
Warne’s manager James Erskine revealed the holiday was the start of a three-month break for the retired spin bowler, but denied he had been drinking and refuted any suggestion of substance abuse, adding: ‘He hated drugs.
‘He was going to do the things he likes doing. He was going to play in one or two poker competitions, play a lot of golf, be with his kids, that was about it – have time to himself.’
Mr Erskine said the men planned to go to a bar in Koh Samui at 5pm on Friday. When Warne did not join them, Mr Neophitou went to his room to check on him and found him unconscious on the floor.
Mr Erskine told Fox Sports: ‘Neo knocked on his door at 5.15pm because Warnie is always on time. He went in there and said, “Come on, you’re going to be late,” and then realised something was wrong. He turned him over and gave him CPR and mouth-to-mouth.’
He had the heartbreaking task of telling Warne’s family, adding that the news ‘shattered’ his children Brooke, 24, Jackson, 22, and Summer, 19. Warne’s mother Brigitte said: ‘We’re just in shock.’ His exwife, Simone Callahan, the mother of their children, was being consoled at home in Melbourne last night.
Emergency first responder Kittachai Huadmuang, who was on the scene within five minutes, said: ‘I think he died at the scene because there was no pulse. His friends were giving him CPR when we arrived. He was lying by the foot of his bed dressed in white shorts. There was blood coming out of his mouth, but that is normal for people in cardiac arrest.
‘My team took over CPR. I asked his friends if he had any health problems and they said no. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the room, there was no mess.’
The medical team battled to revive Warne for 15 minutes until an ambulance arrived. A doctor carried on performing CPR as he was taken to the Thai International Hospital in Chaweng, a 15-minute drive. Warne was pronounced dead at the hospital just before 7pm.
A police forensics team found two spots of blood on the floor where Warne was discovered, and spots of blood on a pillow in his room.
‘I feel the sun has gone behind a cloud forever’
Last night, Mr Neophitou told reporters: ‘We really just want to get Shane home. That’s all we want to do.’ Warne’s body is likely to be flown to a hospital in Surat Thani on the mainland this afternoon for a post-mortem examination before it is released to the Australian embassy to be flown home.
Mr Morrison said: ‘The whole country would have woken up in shock today, it’s just terrible. He was one of those cricketers who changed the game globally, not just here in Australia.’
Mr Morrison said the funeral is set to be held in Melbourne.
The Great Southern Stand at Melbourne Cricket Ground will be renamed the SK Warne Stand. Cricket fans paid their respects at a statue of Warne outside the ground, with many leaving beers, cigarettes, cricket balls, letters and even a slice of pizza at the statue.