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Linda Hogan has become the latest loved ones of wrestling great Hulk Hogan to speak out on the legend’s recent death.
Four days after the retired wrestling star passed away 24 at the age of 71, the late WWE icon’s ex-wife broke her silence on this sad development.
Linda and Hulk were married for 26 years until they went their separate ways in 2009.
“I had no idea he would pass away this soon,” Linda wrote July 28 in the comments section of her July 19 Instagram post, which featured a throwback pic of her and her ex.
“We all really thought he would make a come back! Big surprise. We are all devastated. It’s hitting me so hard. I loved Hulkster more than he loved me. It hurt when he cheated. But he was sooo famous. I sort of understood [sic] but it was crushing. It hurt.”
Added Linda, who shares two kids with the late star:
“I’ve been weeping all day. The finality. It’s just shocking. We spent every minute together for so many years. I’ve known him since he was 28 yrs old! I was 22. I still love him. Even tho I never spoke or saw him, Nick did.. and Nick would tell me things and vice versa. Just news about life.”
Hogan is presumed to have died from cardiac arrest.
According to podcast host and WWE journalist Dave Meltzer, though, the 71-year old was in extremely bad shape prior to paramedics being called for a heart-related incident on the date cited above.
Due to complications from a neck surgery in May, Hogan was intubated and battled renal failure, fluid overload and severe COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), Dave Meltzer claimed late last week.
“What happened with Hulk was they took him out of the hospital and made a hospital in his house as there wasn’t much left they could do,” Meltzer reported in his Wrestling Observer Newsletter, perhaps the most respected publication in this industry.
Along similar lines, an insider previously told tabloid Us Weekly that Hogan had been “in and out of the hospital” for years before his death.
The source described the frequent hospital visits as “the culmination of having over 30 surgeries over the course of his life.”
Linda, for her part, went on to note that the family rift way back in the day left her feeling “broken,” concluding as follows:
“We still were a family. It’s so hard to know he’s just gone. I tried to stay strong for Nick .. but I’m me. I love you Hulkster. You were my man. The only man for me. RIP.”
Clearwater Police Department personnel responded to a medical emergency on July 24 relating to a “cardiac arrest,” a local official has since confirmed.
Hogan was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
“I wasn’t ready for this…and my heart is in pieces,” Sky Daily, Hogan’s third wife, wrote on social media Friday, July 25.
“He had been dealing with some health issues, but I truly believed we would overcome them. I had so much faith in his strength. I thought we still had more time.
“This loss is sudden and impossible to process. To the world, he was a legend… but to me, he was my Terry. The man I loved. My partner. My heart.”
