English former professional snooker legend Willie Thorne passed away aged 66 after suffering respiratory failure.
The icon was put into an induced coma after suffering respiratory failure while being treated for leukaemia in Spain, his carer said.
He was taken to hospital last week with a dangerously low blood pressure.
But the star sadly lost his fight - leaving his legion of fans devastated.
Close friend Gary Lineker and Piers Morgan lead the tributes:
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
RIP Willie Thorne, 66.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 17, 2020
Great snooker player & a wonderful character. Sad news. pic.twitter.com/bdMtOsDnSD
“The doctor called me yesterday to inform me that on Sunday Willie went into respiratory failure and he is now in an induced coma and mechanical ventilation,” his carer Julie O’Neill wrote on his fundraising page.
“We are all hoping that the treatments the hospital are giving him while in this induced coma will help to improve his overall condition and at some point enable him to breathe on his own and be brought out of this coma.”
O’Neill wrote last month that Thorne had sepsis throughout his body and was unable to move his arms or legs, but since then his condition had appeared to improve.
Thorne turned professional in 1975 and won one ranking title as well as reaching the World Snooker Championship quarter-finals in 1982 and 1986. He is also known in Britain as a snooker commentator.
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