Shane Warne’s last meal was a plate of Vegemite and toast shared with a friend at the Thailand resort where he died hours later. The poignant detail was revealed by The Sporting News CEO Tom Hall, who was already on the island of Koh Samui when Warne and three mates arrived.
“I have dined with Shane in many fine establishments, but rather than sample some of the local Thai fare, we tuck into a plate of Vegemite on toast,” Hall wrote in an article on the outlet’s website.
“Shane chomping away: ‘Geez, you can’t beat Vegemite with some butter, always great wherever you are in the world’. An Australian through and through – this was to turn out to be his last meal.”
Warne’s body was on Sunday taken from Koh Samui island by ferry to Surat Thani on the mainland and then on to a local hospital, where an autopsy was due to take place. Once that is completed, his remains are expected to be prepared for an air transfer to Melbourne.
There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death at age 52, from what is believed to have been a heart attack.
Overnight on Sunday, more details were revealed about the Melbourne-born cricket legend’s death. One of the paramedics called to the scene on Friday after Warne was found unconscious in his villa described how his friends desperately tried to revive him by applying CPR.
Bo Phut police station superintendent Yuttana Sirisombat earlier said that Warne had been suffering chest pains before arriving in Thailand. He also had asthma and had seen a doctor about his heart.
Warne’s manager James Erskine has also revealed the cricketer had recently come off a “ridiculous” fluid-only diet.
“He did go on these ridiculous sorts of diets, and he was just finished with one,” he told Nine Network. It was a bit all or nothing. It was either white buns with butter and lasagne stuffed in the middle or he would be having black and green juices.
“He obviously smoked most of his life. I don’t know. I think it was just a massive heart attack.”
Warne was only three days into a planned three-month holiday. His friend Andrew Neophitou, who was among the group, had gone to check on him.
“They were going to have a drink … or go and meet someone to go out and have a drink at 5pm and Neo knocked on his door at 5.15pm because Warnie is always on time,” Erskine said.
“He went in there … and then realised something was wrong. And he turned him over and gave him CPR and mouth-to-mouth, which lasted about 20 minutes and then the ambulance came.”
Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, confirmed on Sunday Warne’s family had accepted the government’s offer of a state funeral, with more details to come. “It will be an opportunity for Victorians to pay tribute to his contribution to his sport, to our state and the country,” Andrews said.