I'll Keep My Husband's Dream Alive

When Penny lost the love of her life in a tragic event, she vowed to keep moving forward.

- Dan Proudman

Damian Haire was a few short steps from the safety of his beloved homestead when an autumn storm rolled across NSW’s Liverpool Plains and towards his black-soiled land. And when a massive clap of thunder sounded, his family instantly knew something was amiss.

“Damian had been moving some grain near the house when we heard and saw the lightning,” his wife Penny remembers of the terrible moment her life changed forever. “It was so close we went to check that it hadn’t sparked a fire anywhere.”

Devastatingly that’s when the mother-of-three found her husband. The hard-working 45-year-old had been struck by lightning in a cruel freak of nature. He died hours later in Tamworth Hospital.

Four years on, it’s only now that Penny, 44, has been able to speak publicly about the tragedy. Bravely finding her voice, the grieving widow hopes to inspire others battling their own private struggles in remote areas while fighting to survive the worst drought in history.

“All I would say to people is you can do anything. Anything you want to,” she says. “It’s just a matter of taking the first step and continuing to move forward, no matter how slowly.”