Shane Warne dies: Four friends 'battled for 20 minutes' to save Australian legend's life after heart attack

Australia cricket legend Shane Warne died of heart attack on Friday aged 52 despite frantic attempts from four of his friends who battled for 20 minutes to save his life, according to Thai police.

Warne was staying in a villa in the resort of Koh Samui in Thailand with his friends where he was found unconscious and did not respond when one of his friends tried to wake him up for food at around 5pm local time. They then performed CPR for 20 minutes before the arrival of the ambulance that took the former Aussie cricketer to the Thai International Hospital, where he was eventually pronounced dead.

Police Senior Sergeant Major Suporn Hemruangsree confirmed the news: “Police received a report about somebody who died at the Thai International Hospital so we went and asked the hotel, and found out that the deceased was with four other friends and died in the room.

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“In the villa, the people were sleeping in separate rooms. They were sleeping from afternoon to evening, until about 5pm. At 5pm somebody came to call out this person for dinner but the deceased did not respond so they called three other friends to perform CPR for 20 minutes. They waited for the ambulance to come.

“The doctor announced the death of the person at 6:53pm. Police went and checked the room and there was no sign of intrusion or possessions being searched through. The body was sent for an autopsy at Koh Samui Hospital.”

Warne's death was announced just 12 hours after world cricket lost Australia's great wicket keeper Rodney Marsh, who also died of cardiac arrest. In his last tweet, Warne had paid tribute to the former Australia cricketer, who died at the age of 74. He had written, "Sad to hear the news that Rod Marsh has passed. He was a legend of our great game and an inspiration to so many young boys and girls. Rod cared deeply about cricket & gave so much-especially to Australia & England players. Sending lots and lots of love to Ros and the family. RIP mate."