By Snooker star Willie Thorne has died, 66
66 year old snooker star BBC commentator Willie Thorne has died in hospital in Spain after being placed in an induced coma, according to a statement on his GoFundMe page.
In March, Thorne announced he had been diagonosed with leukaemia and was taken to hospital last week with alarmingly low blood pressure.
Thorne’s carer Julie O’Neil wrote a statment on the GoFundMe page:
“with a very heavy and broken heart” that he died in the early hours this morning.
“Willie went into septic shock and was not responding to any treatment so the decision was made by the hospital to turn off the machines,
She said the sportsman died peacefully, “listening to his children saying they love him”.
During his career Thorne reached two World Championship quarter-finals and won the 1985 Mercantile Credit Classic.
He reached a world ranking of seven, twice and spent 20 years among the top 32, before moving into a commentary career that spanned over more than 30 years with BBC, ITV and Sky.
Fans of snooker ledgend have begun to pay their tibutes on Twitter.
We are deeply saddened to hear that the Great WT himself, Willie Thorne, has passed away at the age of 66. It's a great loss to our sport.
Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.
RIP Williehttps://t.co/dQYOen9L3Q pic.twitter.com/Kj57meHU5g
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) June 17, 2020
Deeply, deeply saddened to hear that my friend Willie Thorne has passed away. One of life’s great characters. A marvellous snooker player and a lovely man, who’s potted his final black much too soon. RIP Willie.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) June 17, 2020
So sad to hear about the death of Willie Thorne. I loved watching his career, we made friends on Strictly Come Dancing where he was the loveliest ‘team mate’. 💙 pic.twitter.com/0Na5NXVywA
— Gabby Logan (@GabbyLogan) June 17, 2020
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