Inside Andrew Symonds's last hours before he died in a car crash.
Andrew Symonds had been fishing and going to a local club right before he died, but the last few hours before his death are still a mystery.
The Australian cricket legend died Saturday night when his car went off the road outside of Townsville. This caused people from all over the world to express their sadness and pay tribute to him.
The police are looking into what happened and will give a report to the coroner.
Symonds stopped at Brothers Leagues Club on Saturday afternoon, which is close to his house. He was still wearing his fishing gear.
CEO of the Brothers Leagues Club Justin Wilkins told the Daily Mail that Symonds didn't drink much before he left that night.
Mr. Wilkins said, "I'd say he spent the morning fishing before he went to the pub." "He stayed there until around 8 o'clock at night, and then he left." It's very sad... He was a great guy, and we'll miss him."
People say that Symonds went home after he left Brothers to get his dogs, but he died a few hours later. His sister Louise told the Daily Mail, "We just don't know" why the cricketer was driving on Hervey Range Road so late at night.
Garry Clark, a local, was at Brothers Leagues Club with Symonds on Friday night. He said, "I shook his hand and talked to him."
His team, the Broncos, had just beaten my team, Manly, that night, and we were laughing about it.
"I'm shocked. I can't stop thinking about what happened."
Jimmy Maher, a great friend of Symonds and a former Australian and Queensland cricketer, said that the 46-year-family old's is "hanging in there" but that they are "all doing it tough" during an interview with Today on Tuesday. Maher broke down as he said this.
Karl, it's been hard, Maher said. "It's certainly hard." You're used to him being in the car when you get to Townsville and get off the plane. He would always say, "Mahbo, you're five minutes late." "Mate, I didn't fly the plane," I'd tell them. That was the kind of guy he was, and it hit me hard yesterday when I walked through that door and realized he wouldn't be there. If he was on your side, he always was. He stayed true.
"Far from the cricket field, the things we did together were... things I'll miss. He's a good friend who talks to me about my family and other things.
As part of the police investigation into the accident, an autopsy has not yet been done. The Townsville Bulletin says that there isn't a doctor in the area who can do those kinds of procedures. Instead, a doctor from somewhere else in Queensland would have to be brought in.
Mia Glover, a reporter for Channel 9, told FIVEaa radio on Monday, "There are a lot of brake marks on the road where his car went off the road before it rolled."
"Right now, police still don't know why he got off the road," she said.
Locals say that he may have swerved to avoid hitting an animal, but everything is being looked into right now.
A person who saw Symonds after he crashed his car said to the Courier Mail that the cricketer's two blue heelers wouldn't leave his side.
She said, "One of them was very kind and didn't want to leave him." "Every time we tried to move it or get close to it, it would just growl at us." Symonds's partner tried to get him out of the car and put him on his back.
"He was out of his mind, not moving, and his heart wasn't beating."
Sunday, Symonds' sister went to the scene of the terrible accident and wrote a note about how sad she felt.
The note said, "Gone way too soon!" Andrew, may you rest in peace. I wish we could have just one more day or phone call.
"My heart is broken. I'll love you forever, my brother."