The first time Kerry Packer died was on Sunday 7 October, 1990. He had a heart attack during a polo match. Three minutes into the first chukka he slumped down, arms around the neck of his horse. He was clinically dead and stayed that way until he was brought back to life with a defibrillator.
When Packer was asked about the experience he replied: “I’ve been to the other side, and let me tell you son, there’s fucking nothing there.” When he died for the second, and final, time in 2005, they played a clip of a TV interview at his memorial service. “The good news is that there’s no devil, the bad news is that there’s no heaven,” he said. “There’s nothing.” The moral, Packer suggested, was that you should do what you want.
Related: From the Vault: Kerry Packer creates cricket's first modern mercenaries
Continue reading...