KEY POINTS:
Relatives have spoken out to try to quell rumours New Zealand-born Big Brother star Gordon Sloan died of a drug overdose, as earlier reports suggested.
Mystery still surrounds Sloan's death in a China, after the 34-year-old freelance architect collapsed in a Beijing nightclub on September 1.
His New
Zealand family were at his hospital bedside in Beijing when he died two weeks ago. They are now understood to be in Sydney.
Sloan's uncle, Sydney businessman Andy Schollum, has denied his nephew had injected drugs or that the family had been forced to turn off his life support at Chaoyang Hospital. Schollum told the Sydney Morning Herald: "We don't know what to believe (but) the assertion that Gordon injected a toxic substance is absolutely incorrect and has caused the family deep emotional distress.
"He had not been injected in any way. The toxic substances were found in his stomach. The doctors who examined Gordon stated that his violent reaction to these substances proved that his system was completely unused to them. He would not have knowingly ingested these substances."
Schollum, who would not say what the substance was, said his nephew had been in China for three weeks on business. They had spoken by phone the day before his death, and he had chatted about fitness and plans for his birthday next month.
Meanwhile, Beijing police have abandoned the investigation because of lack of leads, according to reports yesterday.
Sloan arrived at the nightclub in the district of Sanlitun about 3am. Staff say he ordered two beers, sat at a table and appeared to go to sleep. An ambulance was called when they couldn't wake him and the club was closed soon afterwards.
Sloan did not regain consciousness and was in a coma when his parents arrived from New Zealand. A CAT scan on September 9 showed he was brain dead.
"Thankfully, Gordon passed away naturally and peacefully with his direct family at his bedside," Schollum said.
"The family did not turn off his life support system. His death was directly related to hypoxia, deprivation of oxygen to the brain."
Sloan became a household name in Australia when he starred in the first Big Brother show in 2001. He was instantly recognisable for his unique designer-spikes hairstyle.
In 2003, he acted as a human shield in Iraq, later returning to help establish a shelter for orphans in Baghdad.
Sydney friend Donna Mulhearn, who knew Sloan from his humanitarian work, said through a tribute on a Catholic website that he had a strong sense of justice. "We remember him more for his big heart than his big hairstyle."
Sloan's funeral in Sydney on Thursday drew 150 mourners, including his ex-girlfriend and former Neighbours star Natalie Bassingthwaighte.
Sloan's uncle, Robert Sloan of Northland, told the Herald on Sunday a service will be held in Auckland next week.
