The woman who tragically died after a freak lightning strike caused a tree to shatter in Sydney‘s southwest has been identified.
Rosanna Hashem, aged in her 40s, was fatally struck when lightning hit her property on Old Razorback Rd in Cawdor around 5.30pm on Saturday.
At the time, she was sitting in her backyard when the tragic incident occurred, with several children witnessing.
She had been pierced by wood shrapnel when the lightning caused a tree to explode near where she had been sitting.
A friend was talking on her phone when it exploded in her hand due to the power surge caused by the lightning, partially amputating her finger and fracturing her jaw.
She is recovering at Liverpool Hospital, where she is in stable condition.
‘Both women had been seated about six metres from a large tree, and this had been struck by a lightning bolt, which literally caused the tree to explode, sending debris all over the place,’ NSW Ambulance Inspector David Kynaston said.
‘This is a very traumatic and tragic incident for family involved but also very confronting for emergency services who attended, both in the knowledge that young children had witnessed the incident but also the injuries sustained by the patients.’
Rosanna Hashem was fatally struck when lightning hit her property on Old Razorback Rd in Cawdor around 5.30pm on Saturday
A tree exploded as it was struck by lightning, killing a woman nearby and injuring another
NSW Ambulance Inspector David Kynaston called the incident traumatic for the family and confronting for emergency responders, with young children witnessing
Ms Hashem was the owner of The Groomery Cat Grooming Services, a business based at her home where the accident happened.
Neighbour Rob Campisi said the freak storm came out of nowhere and was unlike anything he had experienced in the ten years he had lived in the area.
‘It just started to rain and then all of a sudden just the loudest bang we’ve ever heard,’ Mr Campisi told the Daily Telegraph.
‘The power went out and (I was) in the shed and … I looked outside and saw a big cloud of smoke.’
Mr Campisi said the weather conditions hadn’t seem bad enough to require staying inside.
‘Sometimes you just don’t know when it’s your time.’
Ms Hashem has been remembered as ‘a beautiful mother of four boys (and a) loving wife’.
‘She was a sole owner of her own business, been working it up for the past five years serving the Camden community and surrounds,’ her friend and coworker, Jemma Powell, said.
Neighbour Rob Campisi said the weather didn’t seem severe enough to warrant staying inside
Ms Hashem was the owner of The Groomery Cat Grooming Services, which was based at her Cawdor home, where the tragic lightning strike occurred.
‘She was very passionate about animal welfare and just a fabulous person taken way too soon’.
The Groomery Sydney shared a Facebook post paying tribute to Ms Hashem as ‘not only the heart and foundation’ of the business but also a ‘dear friend to so many’.
‘Her absence leaves an immeasurable void,’ it said.
The business will remain closed until further notice.
Sydney is expected to see further storms and lightning in the early days of next week, followed by several days of rain.
