Did Cilla Black have a stroke triggered by Spanish heatwave?

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Miss Black collapsed on the terrace of her Marbella home on Saturday
Tests into the cause of the 72-year-old's death have proved inconclusive
It is feared that she may have suffered a stroke triggered by hot weather
Friends say the star 'willed' herself to death to be with her late husband

By Larisa Brown In Estepona, Spain For The Daily Mail

Published: 04:23 EST, 3 August 2015 | Updated: 02:08 EST, 4 August 2015

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Cilla Black may have had a stroke after being overcome by heat during the hottest summer in Spain for 40 years.

The 72-year-old collapsed suddenly on Saturday on a sun terrace at her luxury holiday villa in Estepona, near Marbella.

She had taken an afternoon siesta in her air conditioned bedroom when she walked out on to the sun-baked balcony and apparently fell.

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Smiling: Cilla stopped to pose with fans at Malaga Airport after landing in Spain on Friday afternoon. This is thought to be the last picture taken of the star

Glamourous: Fan Amy Kelly, 28, took this picture of Cilla at Gatwick Airport on Friday before she left the UK

The star was found by the eldest of her three sons, Bobby, 44, who had to break down her bedroom door to get in and reach her.

Spanish investigators are looking into whether her collapse had been caused by a sudden dizzy spell, possibly triggered by walking from the air conditioned room out into the heat.

Forensic experts found marks on her body characteristic of a fall.

But a pool man at the property, who had spoken to Bobby and his brothers Ben, 41, and Jack, 35, suggested she had collapsed after having a stroke. Sources close to the Spanish police inquiry would only say that initial post mortem results were ‘inconclusive’.

Temperatures in southern Spain soared to 31.8C (89F) over the weekend in its hottest summer in 40 years. This year Spain suffered its longest heatwave ever with four hot spells, one lasting ten days with temperatures up to 48C (118F).

Cilla, pictured at her favourite restaurant in Marbella with owner Sandro Morelli, and her friends, including Sir Cliff Richard

The Italian regularly entertains celebs from across the world and pictures of Cilla relaxing at his eaterie with Sir Cliff Richard on Marbella’s famous Golden Mile line the walls of his restaurant

CILL, I LOVE YOU: CLIFF'S POIGNANT FAREWELL TO FRIEND OF 50 YEARS

Close: Cilla and Sir Cliff in Marbella at her favourite restaurant

Sir Cliff Richard has penned an emotional farewell to his ‘wonderful friend’ Cilla Black, who he had planned to meet this week.

Paying respects to her ‘honest and gritty’ personality, Sir Cliff wrote: ‘Cill, I love you.’

The 74-year-old singer befriended the star when they met on her variety show in the 1960s.

Writing in The Sun, he said: ‘It was back when shows were still in black and white, and we sang a duet together called Passing Strangers.

‘What impressed me was that she looked me in the eyes as she sang the words, as if she really meant them.

'Too many artists just read the lyrics – she sang them with her heart.’

He added that despite spending periods apart, it didn’t affect their companionship. ‘We became friends but only managed to meet up from time to time.

'When we did we simply took up from where we left off.’

As well as revealing that he intended to visit Miss Black at her Spanish home this week, he recalled amusing anecdotes of his time with the TV star.

‘One of her favourite sayings was “I’m off to Cilla-up”,’ he said. ‘It meant it was time to put on her glad rags and she wore heels whatever the occasion.

'I recall she came on a cruise with me once and was flying all over the place because she insisted on wearing heels on deck.’

His touching remarks came as Miss Black’s breakthrough track Anyone Who Had A Heart re-entered the Official Singles Chart – more than fifty years after it first took her to No1.

Home: The holiday home in Marbella - called Casa Roll - where Cilla Black died on Saturday afternoon. Most of the shutters were down at the property on Sunday

Cilla Black weeps for her beloved Bobby 15 years after his death

Miss Black had only arrived at her villa on Friday afternoon after flying from Britain with Bobby to nearby Malaga airport.

WHEN THE BODY CAN'T COPE

Humans are adapted to survive in a narrow band of temperatures. If it gets too hot or too cold the body struggles, with the elderly particularly vulnerable.

And when someone undergoes an extreme and sudden change – as is thought to have happened as Cilla Black walked from her air conditioned room to her sun terrace – the strain on the body can be far worse.

Air conditioned rooms are often set at 15C (59F), far lower than body temperature which is about 37C. In those conditions the body reacts by withdrawing blood to preserve warmth around the major organs.

If someone then moves to a very hot climate, all the blood focused in the core areas floods towards the skin, where it can transfer heat to the air. The change can place an extreme burden on the heart.

The outer blood vessels open up, the blood pressure drops as a result, and the heart responds by pumping faster. The body also sweats to lose heat, but this causes dehydration which reduces the volume of blood being pumped around the body.

This makes the heart pump harder to circulate the reduced amount of blood. For some elderly people their heart cannot go fast enough and they might faint as a result of low blood pressure or their heart might fail.

She had been suffering from arthritis and hearing problems and had spoken in an interview last year of not wanting to ‘linger’.

Yesterday, one of her closest friends revealed that she was also going blind. Terry McCann believed she was ‘willing herself to die’ to be reunited with her late husband, also called Bobby.

She had travelled to her villa for the first time this year to attend a birthday party for an old friend one evening this week.

A restaurant manager in Marbella said Miss Black was due to attend his restaurant for the party of the friend, named only as Michael, along with Sir Cliff Richard.

Photos emerged of her in previous years dining at the Villa Tiberio with Sir Cliff, Max Clifford and the man named Michael.

Photographs also emerged of the entertainer smiling with a fan at Gatwick as she boarded the flight to Spain on Friday. Amy Kelly, 27, from Dunbartonshire, Scotland, said she was in tears when she later heard news of the singer’s death.

She was then photographed at Malaga airport, posing with a hen party in fancy dress, in what is believed to be the last picture of her before she died.

A specialist laboratory in Seville will now carry out further investigations into her death. On Saturday at 1.30pm she went upstairs for a siesta. When she failed to emerge from her bedroom hours later, her worried son knocked on her door but got no answer. He smashed his way in and found her lying on her back.

Forensic experts found marks on Miss Black’s right arm and elbow consistent with a fall that they believe may have been caused by a sudden change in temperature as she went on to the baking terrace from her air conditioned bedroom.

Speaking before the autopsy, a source close to the inquiry said: ‘Cilla’s son found her lying face upwards in a solarium-style sun terrace next to her bedroom.

Grief: Flowers began to appear outside the Cavern Club after the news of the popular presenter's death

Mourning: The flag above Liverpool Town Hall was flown at half mast for their local star

A look back at the life and career of TV icon Cilla Black

‘The main theory right now is that she had a dizzy turn after going from an air conditioned room into the midday heat and losing her balance. The marks she’s got are consistent with a fall where she’s put up an arm as a defence mechanism.’

He added: ‘Midday temperatures on Saturday in the area were in the high eighties and we know Cilla wasn’t in the best of health.’

He said all possibilities were being looked at, including one that she had been confronted by a would-be burglar, ‘although it is not being seen as a probable scenario’.

Last night a pool man at the property said that he had spoken to Miss Black’s sons and she had died from a stroke.

Antonio, who went to the villa yesterday lunchtime to clean the swimming pool, said: ‘She hadn’t been here since last year, but she arrived on Friday and on Saturday she died. She died from a stroke.’

He added: ‘I knew her from years back, she was very friendly, she’d been coming here for many years and she loved Spain a lot.'

Tearful: Members of the public gathered outside the Cavern club to pay their respects in Liverpool

Cilla Black on her biggest life achievements after BAFTA win

TV star: Cilla Black on the phone in Surprise Surprise in 1997 (left) and pictured in London in May (right)

BIGGINS: SHE IS WITH BOBBY HAVING A GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE

Close friends Christopher Biggins and Lionel Blair welled up as they appeared on television this morning to pay tribute to the beloved star.

The actors spoke of their shock and grief at Cilla Black's sudden passing to Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes on ITV's This Morning on Monday.

'She was so loved,' said Biggins. 'Everybody adored her. I think that's why everyone is in such grief now. It really is a sadness that everybody is being affected by. It's a bit like Princess Diana dying.'

Blair added: 'She was so wonderful, I can’t believe she’s no longer here.

'She is a legend, and she had an appeal that Tommy Cooper had. When she walked on, everyone smiled.'

Devastated: Close friends Christopher Biggins and Lionel Blair appeared on ITV's This Morning to pay tribue to Cilla Black, who died on Saturday at the age of 72

Colleagues: Biggins and Cilla had presented Surprise Surprise together in the 1980s

Christopher Biggins pays tribute to TV icon Cilla Black

Tearful: Both men welled up at memories of their dear friend, who they described as 'wonderful'

Biggins revealed he last spoke to his dear friend 10 days ago, and were planning to meet next in September.

They had even discussed a holiday to Barbados in the coming months.

'It is just a terrible loss for everybody,' Biggins said.

But he was taking comfort from the idea she was now with her beloved husband, whose death in 1999 she had never really got over.

He said: 'She is there now with Bobby and she is having a glass of champagne and saying good luck to us all.'

Eternal love: Cilla pictured with her sweetheart and future husband Bobby Willis before their marriage in 1969. Bobby was the love of Cilla's life, and she was heartbroken when he died in 1999