Shane Warne’s friend reveals how the late cricket icon saved his life

Following the one-year anniversary of Shane Warne’s death, a close friend to the late King of Spin has revealed how Warne ended up saving his life.

Warne died at the age of 52 while enjoying a holiday on the island of Koh Samui in Thailand on March 4, 2022.

Following his sudden death, Warne’s management released a statement acknowledging the tragedy.

“Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived,” the statement said.

As friends and fans honoured Warne on the one-year anniversary of his death recently, his friend Philip Dalidakis detailed how Warne’s tragic passing may have prevented further tragedy.

In a recent interview with Today, the 46-year-old spoke of how Warne’s sudden death prompted him to get a heart check up, a decision that may have saved his life.

“Just after Warnie passed away I was at a boozy lunch with some of my mates and some of them said that after Warnies death we should all get heart check ups,” Dalidakis said.

“I was 46 at the time and it wasn’t something that I would have thought about doing for 20 years.

“So we all just decided to go and do it and in the course of getting checked I went to a cardiologist, he ran me through some tests and one of them found that my left artery was blocked by 95%.

“The scariest thing about it was I had zero symptoms, no shortness of breath, I was literally a walking talking time bomb.

“If Warnie had not have died – this is no exaggeration – I probably would not be here having this interview with you today.”

I am almost certainly alive today because I got checked after Warnie’s death. Thoughts are with his family, especially his children on what I’m sure is a difficult day. To everyone else, I had zero symptoms so please get checked. #HeartHealth pic.twitter.com/okm86qflt6

— Philip Dalidakis (@philipdalidakis) March 3, 2023

Dalidakis’ reflection on how Warne impacted his life was just one of the many tributes that were made on the one year anniversary of Warne’s death.

Warne’s son Jackson was among the first to pay tribute with a touching post to Instagram.

“1 year ago today. Miss you mate, love Jacko,” he wrote.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Jackson Warne (@jacksonwarne18)

Warne’s youngest daughter, Summer, also took to social media to honour her father on the anniversary of his passing, admitting that she has been doing her best to move forward without her father.

“1 year ago, one of the people that I love most in the whole entire world left and went to heaven ???? My beautiful dad,” she began.

“I miss you just about every second of every day.

“I’m still trying to navigate life without you here, trying my best to live in a world without you in it.

“I miss you when I laugh and cry because you were always the one that made my laughter grow, and my tears disappear. I miss the memories we will never get to have. I hold you close within my heart, and there you shall remain, until the day that we meet again.

“I love you. SJ.”

Warne was widely considered one of the greatest bowlers in cricket history. He played his first Test match in 1992 and took over 1,000 wickets in Tests and One-Day Internationals over the course of his career. Warne’s 708 Test wickets from 145 tests was the record for the most wickets taken by any bowler in Test cricket until 2007.

Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack recognised Shane’s incredible sporting achievements by naming him as one of its Five Cricketers of the Twentieth Century alongside fellow cricket icons Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Jack Hobbs and Sir Vivian Richards. He was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2013.