On January 15, news broke that the father of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson had passed away. As Johson wrote in his statement following Rocky Johnson‘s passing, he was “ripped away from me so fast without warning. Gone in an instant and no coming back. I’m in pain. But we both know it’s just pain and it’ll pass.“
Rocky was 75 years old. As WWE reported shortly after his passing, Rocky, a professional wrestler, retired in 1991 just a few years before his son followed in his footsteps. The WWE described him as “one of sports-entertainment’s most influential performers.”
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As Johnson continued in his statement, Rocky “broke color barriers, became a ring legend and trailblazed your way through this world”:
“Who then grew to become a man realizing you had other deeply complicated sides that needed to be held and understood. Son to father. Man to man. That’s when my adoration turned to respect. And my empathy turned to gratitude. Grateful that you gave me life. Grateful you gave me life’s invaluable lessons. Dad, I wish I had one more shot to tell you, I love you, before you crossed over to the other side.”
Days after making the statement, The Rock shared a seven-minute video to his Instagram feed thanking his fans and followers for all the well-wishes he and his family received following his father’s passing.
The Rock Reveals His Father’s Cause of Death, Writes His Eulogy
The proud son revealed that before his father’s death, he had been battling a cold, as well as an infection. The Tuesday prior to his passing, Rocky had a “deep vein thrombosis,” which as The Rock explained is a blood clot in the leg. The blood then “broke free, traveled up his body and went right to his lung.”
“He died very quickly from a massive heart attack. Just like that. According to the medical examiner, who did the autopsy, it was clear and very evident of what happened. My question was, ‘Was he in pain? Did he go quick? Was it drawn out?’ And he said he went fast. That’s my old man, he was always quick.”
Along with the video, the actor and father of three wrote, “Go hug your loved ones hard, while you still can.” He then revealed that he was also asked to write the eulogy for his father’s funeral.
He admitted in the video that he didn’t even know where to begin when it came to writing the eulogy, but that he did know his father would want him to tell people that he taught him everything The Rock knows, but not everything he knew. “Written a lot of things over the years, but nothing prepared me for this one.”
Rocky was laid to rest on January 21.