A Thai masseuse claims to have knocked on Shane Warne’s door for his appointment - but believes the Australian cricket legend had already died.
Warne passed away last Friday aged 52 in Thailand following a suspected heart attack. The leg spin bowler - dubbed the King of Spin - was found collapsed in his room by his friends at a luxury villa in Koh Samui.
Four pals desperately tried to resuscitate him by performing CPR before an ambulance took him to the Thai International Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The therapist, nicknamed Pen, was booked to go to Warne’s room at the luxury villa - but there was no reply when she knocked on his door. Pen even texted her boss, saying: “He’s not having a massage now, he won’t wake up.”
Soon after, Warne’s friends found his body. Pen had already given one of his mates a nail treatment at the same property.
“Shane was having a massage and the two other girls left before me,” Pen told The Sun. “I had a text saying that I would do his nails and a foot massage when they had finished.
“I think Shane was sleeping in his room the whole time because I didn’t see him while I was giving a nail treatment to his friend. I was supposed to go to see Shane after that but when the maid knocked on his door there was no reply.
“There was no sound in the room and they said he was sleeping, so I left. When I got home I was told he had died, so I was really sad. I think that he had been dead while I was in the villa.”
Pen was scheduled to see Warne at 5pm, but he had tragically died by then.
Adored by millions around the world, the charismatic Warne is considered by many as the greatest bowler to ever play the game.
His illustrious international career spanned 15 years and saw him take 708 Test wickets - the most ever by an Australian and only behind Muttiah Muralitharan in the all-time standings - as well as the most wickets in Ashes history, with 195.
On Monday, Warne’s family broke their silence to issue a lengthy statement on with individual tributes from his parents Keith and Brigette, brother Jason, three children Brooke, Jackson and Summer along with ex-wife Simone Callaghan.
His parents said: “To find words to adequately express our sadness is an impossible task for us and looking to a future without Shane is inconceivable, hopefully the mountain of happy memories we all have will help us cope with our ongoing grief.”
Their statement came after the family accepted an offer from the Victorian government and Prime Minister Scott Morrison of a state funeral for Warne.
