Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a wrestler, Hollywood A-List actor, businessman and so much more. Yet, he will tell you that he is not "self-made" as many would believe. He credits a lot of his early success to his dad. So it was fitting that Johnson shared that he was “full of gratitude” for the love and support he’s received after the death of his father.
The actor’s legendary pro-wrestling father, Rocky Johnson, passed away in 2020 at age 75.
At the age of 75 in his Lutz, in his Florida home, Johnson died from sequelae of Cardiac arrest secondary to pulmonary embolism i.e. blood clots lodged in his pulmonary artery (blood vessel carrying blood from the heart to the lungs), which had traveled up from legs aka Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). When large enough, the pulmonary embolus prevents normal circulation for gaseous exchange between the heart and lungs... which then results in heart failure or cardiac arrest.
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Deep Vein Thombosis (DVT) also happens to be the condition that rapper Heavy D as well as "Tommy" from the hit show Martin died of and what Serena Williams has fought and won against.
A Black Nova Scotian, Rocky descended from Black Loyalists who immigrated to Nova Scotia after escaping from a southern plantation in the United States after the American Revolutionary War. At the age of 16, Johnson moved to Toronto where he began wrestling and worked as a truck driver. Initially, he trained to be a boxer and eventually sparred with greats such as Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, but he was always fascinated by wrestling.
Among many National Wrestling Alliance titles, Rocky was the first black Georgia Heavyweight Champion. He won the World Tag Team Championship, along with his partner Tony Atlas, in 1983 to become the first black champions in WWE history. Together, they were billed as "The Soul Patrol."
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The Rock posted an almost eight-minute video Sunday on his official Instagram account in which he expressed his appreciation.
“Hard to express how deeply grateful I am for all your love, mana & support,” the caption read. “My family and I thank you. Go hug your loved ones hard, while you still can. I love you. DJ #ripsoulman.”
The wrestler-turned-actor got emotional in the video and said... “My heart is so full of gratitude.”
“As you know, I lost my old man a few days ago, I lost him just like that, didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to him,” Johnson said. “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. But I didn’t get a chance to say that. But such is life, as many of you know, based on the messages that you have shared with me, that many of you understand this pain when you lose a parent.”
