A family spokesman said Saturday that Muhammad Ali died of septic shock “due to unspecified natural causes.”
The spokesman said Ali died Friday at 9:10 p.m., spending the last hour of his life surrounded by his family. He was initially hospitalized in the Phoenix area on Monday.
His funeral is scheduled for Friday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
The spokesman said Ali was a citizen of the world and he wanted people of all walks of life to be able to attend. The funeral will be translated and streamed on the internet.
One of Muhammad Ali’s daughters described her father’s last moments, saying his heart wouldn’t stop beating for 30 minutes after all of his other organs had failed.
Hana Ali writes on Instagram that “no one had ever seen anything like it.”
She said the family was surrounding Ali, hugging and kissing him, holding his hands and chanting an Islamic prayer while his heart kept beating as his other organs failed.
She called it a “true testament to the strength of his spirit and will.”
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