The wife of former Surrey cricketer Duncan Pauline has tragically died after collapsing at a Waitrose supermarket in Esher, Surrey earlier this week. The sudden and unexpected loss has left the 64-year-old former all-rounder “absolutely devastated.”
Wiyada Pauline, 46, was reportedly shopping for groceries on Wednesday evening when the incident occurred. Emergency services were called to the store at around 6:00 p.m. following reports of a “concern for safety.” Despite rapid medical attention, she was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
As a result, both the supermarket and a section of Esher High Street were temporarily closed while medics and police attended the scene. Surrey Police confirmed the presence of emergency services in a public statement, adding that the store was shut during the ongoing response.
'When I got there the police told me she had passed away'- Duncan Pauline
Pauline, who played for Surrey and Glamorgan during his cricketing career in the 1980s, shared his heartbreak in a statement to The Sun. “She went out to Waitrose at about 5:15 p.m. and then I got a call from one of her friends,” he said. “I went up there expecting she'd had a knock on the head but not that she was dead. When I got there the police told me she had passed away.”
He also recalled the moment he saw her for the last time: “She had a cloth over her head and she looked very peaceful when they pulled the cloth off her head. She was only 46. It's a shock that she could go so young.”
The couple had been married for 22 years and were preparing to retire in Thailand, Wiyada’s home country. They had even purchased a house there in anticipation of their next chapter together. “The sad thing is she won’t get to do that now,” Mr. Pauline said.
Police have not released further details about the cause of death, though no foul play is suspected at this time. The local community in Esher has expressed condolences, and Waitrose has also extended sympathies to the family during this difficult time.
