Jackson Warne has opened up on the moment he discovered his dad, Shane, had died suddenly in March 2022.
Australian icon Warne was holidaying with friends in Thailand when he died aged 52 due to a heart attack as a result of atherosclerosis. His passing tore a hole in the cricket community, with legends from across the sports world paying tribute to the seven-time Ashes series-winner in the days and weeks after his death.
And Jackson – Warne's second-born child and his only son – relived the moment he first learnt he wouldn't get a chance to talk to his father again. It was at that moment the 24-year-old saw his life changed forever.
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"I don't think I'll ever be able to probably forget where I was or what I was doing," he told host Ant Middleton on a recent episode of his Head Game podcast. “Because all you get is a phone call.
"And then when you hang up the phone call. . .your entire life, everything you ever knew sort of just gets like ‘whooshed’, just completely flipped upside down. Your mind does one million thoughts an hour and you’re like ‘What?’"
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Jackson – who competed on Middleton's SAS Australia in 2020, and is a keen poker player, just like his father, went on to say how difficult it was to accept he'd "never be able to ask his dad for advice" or even see him again. But while he may not be able to communicate with his famous father through conventional means, he remained adamant he and Shane have not spoken for the last time.
“I can still vividly remember seeing my phone and who was calling and [I thought], ‘Hang on, he’s with my dad, very weird that he would be calling me and not my dad.' So I answer it and then, 'Aw, s***. It's real.'
"You sort of go into complete shock. You sort of don't want to accept it. It might sound crazy, but I’m convinced. . .I’m confident I’ll at least have one conversation with my dad again, I don’t know whether it be in a dream or somewhere."
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Despite describing himself as "not a big crier", Jackson said he "burst into tears" after hanging up the phone, then "sat in silence for hours" processing the tragedy. Warne's mother and Shane's ex-wife, Simone Callahan, wrote on social media that she was "beyond proud" of her son for his words.
England cricket legend Michael Vaughan also commented that Jackson was an "incredible young man," whose words will "help many". Older sister Brooke also lauded her sibling for his honesty and said their father would be "so proud" of him.
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