Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson shared another tribute to his late father, former wrestling pro Rocky Johnson, on Instagram Sunday. The Jumanji: The Next Level star thanked fans for their condolences in the eight-minute video. Johnson discussed the unique relationship with his father and discussed the details behind his father’s sudden death on Wednesday at age 75.
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“Hey everybody I just wanted to stop in on this very blessed Sunday to say thank you so much,” Johnson said at the beginning of the video. “Thank you. My heart is so full of gratitude. You’ve lifted my spirits in ways that I hope you can imagine.”
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Johnson said his father’s death was so quick he did not get a chance to say goodbye.
“I’d give anything right now to give him a big ol’ hug and a big ol’ kiss before he crossed over and just say thank you and I love you and I respect you,” Johnson said, notes PEOPLE. “But I didn’t get a chance to say that, but such is life, as many of you know.”
Johnson said he had a “unique” relationship with his father, adding there is “so much about my old man and his complexities that only me, as his son, can understand.”
B. Brian Blair, a retired wrestler and close friend to Rocky Johnson, told the Tampa Bay Times his friend died of “natural causes” related to a blood clot that traveled from his let to his lung. Johnson gave more details in his Instagram video.
“A lot of you guys wanted to know what happened to my dad,” Johnson said. “He had not been feeling well, had been battling a cold and infection and on Tuesday he had what’s called a deep vein thrombosis, which is essentially a clot in the leg. It was a big ol’ blood clot that broke free, traveled up his body, and went right to his lung, clotted his lung and he died very quickly from a massive heart attack, just like that.”
Johnson said his father “went quick,” which gave him “great comfort in knowing that it wasn’t prolonged.”
Johnson urged his fans to reach out to their loved ones and not waste any time with them. He said he is now working on the eulogy he will write for his father’s funeral on Tuesday.
“I’ve written a lot of speeches for myself over the years but I have no idea where to start with this one,” Johnson said with a laugh. “But I do have my tequila and I can hear him now, ‘Good that’s the way you gotta do it,’ and I can also hear him now ‘Make sure you put me over in the speech – say good stuff about me.’ For those of you who knows my dad you know that he would say, ‘You tell them I taught you everything you know, but I didn’t teach you everything I know.’”
On Friday, Johnson broke his silence on his father’s death by sharing an old clip of Rocky Johnson in the ring. He included a heartbreaking statement, in which he wrote in part, “You lived a very full, very hard, barrier breaking life and left it all in the ring. I love you dad and I’ll always be your proud and grateful son. Go rest high.”
Rocky Johnson made his professional debut in 1964 and retired in 1991. He made history in 1983 with Tony Atlas when they became the first black champions in WWE history. He was also the first black Georgia Heavyweight Champion. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008 by his son.
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