A close friend of snooker legend John Virgo has spoken of his heartbreak after the 79-year-old died in a Costa del Sol hospital after suffering a ruptured aorta. Golfing pal James Malyon, 46, said he rushed to Xanit Hospital in Benalmadena after John's wife Rosie Ries rang him in the early hours of this morning to say the sports icon and TV presenter had suffered a health emergency - but wasn't able to reach him in time to say his last goodbye. Mr Malyon, who had known John and his third wife for around six years since they moved to Spain, said: "He passed away around 5.30am today.

"He woke Rosie up in pain and discomfort around 2.30 this morning and she called an ambulance and he was taken to hospital where around three hours later he passed away. He had suffered a ruptured aorta which is the main artery running down the body. According to the doctor there's nothing medical that causes it, it can just happen, which is a bit scary, and he said that with a rupture like that if it had happened to a fit 30-year-old man it would almost certainly have been the same outcome. So it wasn't due to any underlying health issues, it wasn't due to any ongoing illness and that's why it has been so tough because it was just completely out of the blue. John had been okay.

"A group of us went out for a drink in December when Dennis Taylor was over and he was in good form. He had gone back to the UK a few weeks ago commentating for the Masters in Alexandra Palace, then he came back to Spain for the weekend and returned again to Britain to do a couple of exhibitions for three or four days.

"He'd got back to the Costa del Sol on Friday and I spoke with him only yesterday afternoon around about 2.30pm. John and Rosie had just got back from the Miramar Shopping Centre in Fuengirola and had been doing the normal everyday things. He was right as rain."

He added of his friend, who had been living full-time in Mijas near Fuengirola since just before the Covid crisis: "It had been a totally normal day for him, nothing out of the ordinary.

"It would have been their 16th wedding on February 9 and it would have been his 80th birthday on March 4. Rosie's obviously very gutted. They had plans to go for dinner together on the 9th and were planning a trip together to Madrid for a lovely weekend to celebrate his 80th but now obviously that's not going to happen.

"They came to Spain around the Covid era and spent a lot of the lockdown in Fuengirola while they had renovation work done on their villa here. The reports about him coming to Spain for health reasons are true.

"He's had a long-standing neck problem which meant his golf swing was not as fluid as before and one of the reasons for coming here would have been for the better climate. But what happened in the early hours of this morning had nothing to do with his neck problem.

"To the best of my knowledge John didn't have high blood pressure. He did smoke. But the doctors at the hospital made no mention of underlying health issues that were related to his death. They simply said he suffered a ruptured aorta. They did everything they could but with a rupture like that there was nothing they could do to prevent his passing.

"Rosie called me and I didn't sadly get to hospital in time to see him before he died but to the best of my knowledge there was going to be a CT scan but it all happened so quickly it was impossible for them to do anything.

"I got to the hospital around half an hour before John passed away. It's scary how life can go like that and that's what's so hard for everyone because it all happened so fast. I met John through playing golf here and we became friends from that. I hadn't met him before he moved out to Spain. It was about 2019 when we met.

"He always had a great story to tell. He was passionate about snooker and many other sports. He was a great Manchester United fan and the life and soul, with some great stories and jokes, just a great guy to be around."

Another close Costa del Sol-based friend said: "I don't believe there will be any need for an autopsy because the cause of death was clear.

"Funeral arrangements will be made following liaison with his children and friends in the UK and I think there will be a service somewhere in Spain but nothing's been finalised yet, although I imagine there will be a service here and then some sort of memorial service back in the UK.

"At this time it's not clear whether it will be a public or private service. Every happens very quickly in Spain when it comes to funerals normally but the family are going to need a bit more time so nothing will be happening for the next few days for sure."

Just before Christmas John was in Christy's Irish Gastropub & Sports Lounge in Fuengirola for a drink with friends including fellow ex-professionals Dennis Taylor and Ken Doherty as well as James Malyon.

Owner Nick Griffin said earlier today: "It's very sad news. John was a lovely normal guy, no airs and graces, from Salford which is a down-to-earth place and he was really down to earth.

"He came in about four or five times a year, always in the afternoons, and he'd have half a pint of Guinness. That was his drink. He was last in just over a month ago and he looked in good form. He lived locally. He was well-known in Fuengirola.

"He was snooker-crazy, he was always talking about snooker and the old days and Alex Higgins and everything else. He really really loved snooker. Someone sent me a message this morning saying he'd died and then I looked on the Internet and obviously read more about it. Anyone who had met John would feel very sad because he was such a nice guy."