The Gunnedah region has reacted with shock to the death of Tambar Springs man Damian Haire after he was struck by lightning on Thursday afternoon.
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Mr Haire, 45, was at his property on Thursday when a bolt of lightning hit him during a thunderstorm.
Ambulance paramedics were called to the property and performed CPR after Mr Haire went into cardiac arrest.
He was taken to a sporting ground at Mullaley which had been cleared to allow the Westpac Rescue Helicopter to land. The helicopter flew him to Tamworth Hospital in a critical condition.
Police confirmed on Friday that Mr Haire had died.
Mr Haire was a popular farmer and father, and the accident prompted a wave of sympathy from the region.
Rebecca Anneliese Bavister was one of many who wrote on the Namoi Valley Independent Facebook site.
“He will be very sorely missed by everyone in our community,” she wrote.
“One of the first people I came to know when I moved here and his wife and kids are the loveliest people you could ever meet. Absolutely devastated.”
Mr Haire’s parents David and Carmel Haire, who live in Gunnedah, thanked the community for the “amazing help” they had been given.
“People have been extremely generous and kind,” Carmel Haire said.
“We are people who believe in God and this is something that has happened that is out of our control, and we have to accept it.”
There will be an autopsy, and the date of the funeral has not yet been set.
Mr Haire is survived by his wife Penny and their three children.
