Jackson Warne opens up about the devastating moment he learnt of his dad Shane Warne’s death

Jackson Warne has spoken for the first time about how he found out his cricket legend dad had died, saying he would never forget where he was or what he was doing when he received the call.

Jackson Warne has opened up for the first time about the moment he found out his father Shane had passed away, saying he went into complete shock.

Jackson said his family sat in silence after they heard the devastating news about the cricket great in March last year.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to probably forget where I was or what I was doing,’’ Jackson told Ant Middleton on his podcast, Head Game.

“Because all you get is a phone call. And then when you hang up the phone call, your life that you’ve been living, your entire life, everything you ever knew sort of was like this just gets whooshed, just completely flipped upside down. Because I hang on. Who am I going to ask for advice now? Well, hang on, you’re telling me I can never see him ever again.

“Oh, hang on, hang on. Your mind does 100 million thoughts an hour and you’re like, what. Like you, you’re just in complete shock. That after you have all these thoughts, and you let the tears out, that you just sort of sit in silence.”

Jackson said he initially sat with his mum Simone Callahan, his girlfriend Kiah Broadsmith and sister Brooke and her partner.

Brooke, Jackson and Summer Warne hold their dad’s legend plaque at the MCG. Picture: David Caird

“Hung up the phone and we just sat in silence for hours,’’ he said.

“And then our grandparents came over. And then a few other friends and family came over. But I can still very vividly remember, you know, seeing my phone and who was calling I’m like well hang on. He’s with my Dad. Very weird that he would be calling me and not my Dad. So I’ll answer it and then yeah, shit, it’s real. And then you sort of just go on to like a complete shock.

“Like you don’t you sort of don’t want to accept it. Like I’m still convinced and it might sound crazy. But I’m convinced that I’m confident I’ll at least have one conversation with my Dad again, like I don’t know, whether it be in a dream or somewhere, I’m convinced that I’ll be at least talking to him one more time, because there’s no way I won’t be able to talk to him about you know, poker, or St Kilda Football Club or any of our hobbies that we used to do all the time.

“There’s no way I won’t be able to talk to him about it.”

Jackson admits he felt like his Dad was Superman and would survive anything. He said he had a dream about his Dad two weeks after he died at age 52, with what he felt was a message for him to take charge and live his life.

Jackson and Shane Warne. Picture: Supplied

“I was driving my car,’’ he said.

“He was driving his car. And we used to sort of not race, we used to just drive next to each other and you know race a little bit. But he was always the better driver in the better car. So it has always beat me all the time. And this dream I had was I was driving my car, he was driving his car, we’re both looking each other left and right and driving and driving.

“And then all of a sudden our cars sort of, they sort of merged, and I was in the driver’s seat of his car. And then I looked to my left, and he wasn’t there. And then I sort of woke up and I can really vividly remember that dream. Everything about it, I can remember. And I sort of looked at that as he was sort of giving me the permission to be in charge.

“Now he’s like Jackson, I’m giving you the driver’s seat. You’re the one that’s, you know, going to be making the tough decisions. Now you’re the one that has to step up for the family. I’m not here anymore, you have to be and I can really, really clearly remember that dream. And I don’t think it was a dream. It sounds crazy, but I don’t think it was a dream. I think it was, you know, Dad sort of given me a sign of saying, You’re the boss now. You’re in charge.”

Jackson spoke about the other defining moment in his life, which was competing on SAS Australia.

He spoke about how he was turning his pain into motivation.

“As soon as I came out of the show, on my way back to Melbourne, this is what life’s about. This is real life. Meeting new people and doing something so out of my comfort zone,’’ he said.

Shane Warne with Brooke and Jackson as children.

“I feel I grew up very lucky, I was very lucky to have the life I got to live. Very grateful for everything. If I look at the timeline of my life, there’s two big standout moments that changed my life forever.

“The first being when I went on your show because that just completely changed my whole perception of life and I realised holy shit, this is what it feels like to be really freezing cold and be completely out of a comfort zone. Then when Dad passed away and they’re the two moments that made me think who am I, made me reflect a lot and made me think who am I.”

Middleton read out some messages he had received from Shane, saying how proud he was of his son. Jackson said he was the best Dad he could have ever asked for.

“If you talk to anyone about him, what was he most proud of, or anything, he always would just say his kids,’’ Jackson said.

“One thing especially because there’s now lots of content to watch from him. You’ve got his documentary, you’ve got his book, and especially since the state Memorial. Everyone just got to see the side of him that we knew and we saw every day. Because everyone saw Shane Warne, but then no one actually saw the dad Shane Warne or the mate Shane Warne. Yeah. So it was really cool for people to see because they everyone realised, ‘Wow, he really, really, really loved his kids’. And we’re like he was the best dad I could have ever asked for.”

Jackson said all the feelings were still raw and it was emotional, but he wanted to get out of his comfort zone and face the situation in the hope of helping others.

Jackson and Brooke Warne are still healing from their loving dad’s sudden death.. Picture: Supplied

“Could this be a chance for me to get out of my comfort zone and actually learn and help people,’’ he said.

“Because one thing I’ve tried to do ever since Dad passed is help people. Like I know, through my Instagram, and just TikTok that, if people see me doing something that is hard or tough, especially after losing dad, they might try it.

“Like, for example, this year I’m doing no drinking. And I’m 10 months in, and I’ve got two months ago. But I just wanted to show people that when you go through something traumatic, instead of going to the left, which is drugs and alcohol, you actually just go to the right, which is no alcohol, no drugs, and just health and fitness.

“Because I feel like that’s just a band aid. And so when they see a 24 year old, do a whole year with no drinking or drugs, and they’re going through this transition of their life, where everything’s just changed and coming out the other end better. They go, well hang on, I might learn from that. So I think going back to why you said why now. I’ve gone well, hang on, let’s talk about it.

“Because you know, it could be helping people, someone else just might have lost their dad or lost their mum, you know, a few weeks ago, or maybe even today and they go, how do I cope? And I hope if they listen to this, or read this, or see me and see how I’m going, they go if Jackson could do it, I can do it. Because I’m a big believer, if that person does it, I can do it. In anything.”