Sam Newman farewells wife at funeral as footy icons come together

Sam Newman has farewelled his late wife, with family and friends comforting the footy great at a wake following Amanda Brown’s funeral on Thursday.

The former AFL Footy Show panellist found his wife lying on the floor of their luxury Docklands apartment earlier this month, but tragically was unable to revive the 50-year-old.

Watch the 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. Every match of every round Live on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

Newman and Brown had been together for 20 years before officially tying the knot in November.

Newman is mourning the tragic death of his wife. Picture: Tony GoughSource:News Corp Australia

As reported by The Herald Sun, Newman’s three sons attended the wake along with high-profile media colleagues Garry Lyon, James Brayshaw, Brian Taylor and Eddie McGuire.

There were approximately 20 guests in attendance for the private funeral in Brighton.

“It was a really nice celebration of Amanda’s life,” one source at the wake told the Herald Sun.

Perfect Match host Greg Evans officiated the event, having also officiated the couple’s wedding six months earlier.

Garry Lyon and Nicky Brownless at the wake for Amanda Brown. Picture: Tony GoughSource:News Corp Australia

Brian Taylor was there to pay his respects. Picture: Tony GoughSource:News Corp Australia

Rebecca Maddern was shattered for her former Footy Show colleague. Picture: Tony GoughSource:News Corp Australia

Media powerbroker Craig Hutchison was another attendee. Picture: Tony GoughSource:News Corp Australia

Speaking on his podcast You Cannot be Serious last week, a tearful Newman chose to detail Brown’s tragic passing with his listeners and co-hosts.

“I’m not sure that things prepare you for … I’ve never experienced what I’ve experienced in the past few days,” Newman said.

“I get home and I walk in the door and the television’s on in the bedroom. So I look down there and lying in her underwear — she’d obviously been in bed or she got out of bed to get something to eat.

“She’s lying there on the tiles outside the laundry and as soon as I saw her I knew she was dead, I just knew it.

“I rang 000 and the very helpful person said you better try and give CPR and she talked me through that.

“I’ve got the phone on speaker and I’m pumping this poor woman who’s lying there looking so peaceful, obviously dead, but the operator said keep doing it in case there’s a spark of life in her.

“So for 20 minutes I’m giving CPR to what I knew was a corpse.”

Amanda Brown and Sam Newman shared two happy decades together.Source:Instagram

Sadly she was taken away too soon.Source:Supplied

The tears kept flowing as Newman reflected on his and Brown’s relationship, explaining why she made him so happy.

“For the last 15 years we lived together and had not one verbal or physical confrontation. Some strong words occasionally for sure, but she had the knack of not prolonging such rifts due to her innate nature of compromise,” Newman said.

“I never felt any pressure to conform or adhere to tacit universal rules of co-habitation and therein lies the contradiction. Put no tension on a relationship and calmness prevails.

“I have never been happier in the last decade and arriving home at the end of a day was such a genuinely pleasant thing I looked forward to. There was never any harbouring angst pent-up in either of us.

“If there is a greater presence guiding us I’d like to think it is why I planned to marry her sixth months out from her 50th birthday. So, on the 20th November 2020, she opened a knock on the door and in the presence of my friend and celebrant Greg Evans, my dear and longtime friend Kevin King and my eldest son Jack, we became Mr and Mrs Newman.

“I have never seen someone so happy with genuine pride to be my wife, and I thank God for the memory of that day.

“She was loyal and loving, concerned and protective and as strong willed as any person I have ever met. I will always love her for who she was and what she was.

“An adage I’ve cited often when people face adversity is, ‘Never cry over things that can’t cry over you’. I’ve cried a lot over Amanda Newman.

“Finally, another adage I value is, ‘There are many things in life that catch your eye, but only a few things catch your heart. Pursue those’.

“Amanda Newman certainly caught my eye and above all she caught my heart.”

Newman and Brown were first spotted out together at a New Year’s Eve function at Crown Casino.Source:News Limited

She will always live on in his heart.Source:News Limited

Newman is a member of the Geelong Hall of Fame, having played 300 games for the club between 1964-80.

He has also had an extensive career in media, as a broadcast commentator and one of the faces of the AFL Footy Show from 1994 until 2018.

Source: Read Full Article