Dean Jones’ grieving wife Jane thanks Lee in heartfelt tribute to husband

The wife of Dean Jones has thanked Brett Lee for his desperate efforts to save the life of her husband.

The wife of cricket legend Dean Jones has thanked Brett Lee for his desperate efforts to save the life of her husband, who collapsed and died of a massive heart attack in India on Thursday.

In a heartbreaking statement released through Melbourne Cricket Club, Jane Jones said she was “devastated” by the loss of the “love of my life”.

Lee twice brought Jones back to life in a desperate resuscitation effort, but the cricketing icon, who was in India commentating on the IPL, died before he got to hospital.

“We want to especially thank and acknowledge Brett Lee’s tireless efforts to keep Dean alive,” Jane said.

“My girls and I are devastated and saddened beyond belief to hear of Dean’s death in India. My beautiful husband, the love of my life, has lived his life with every bit of energy at his disposal, and he leaves an enormous gap in our lives which can never be filled.

Dean Jones and Brett Lee in Mumbai.

“He leaves us with so many wonderful memories that will last forever.”

Tributes to Jones have flooded in from across Australia and around the world, particularly from the subcontinent, where he was loved after his heroic double-century in debilitating conditions in the tied Test in Chennai in 1986.

Jane offered her thanks for all the messages she and her two daughters had received.

“At this challenging time, when our grief is so raw, we have drawn much consolation from the many messages of goodwill and support from so many people around the world.

“Given Dean’s special love for the subcontinent, it was especially touching to hear so broadly from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. We are overwhelmed by the scale of the response to the news of his death and we will forever be grateful for that.

“At this moment, we would sincerely ask the cricketing world to respect the privacy of our family. Details of Dean’s memorial celebration will be released in due course, so everyone has the chance to rightly commemorate his wonderful legacy and bid farewell.”