KEY POINTS:
Friends of a popular horse rider killed by lightning have told of their desperate fight to save his life.
Roger McGill and his horse Jaffa died instantly in the freak accident during the Northland Hunt near Dargaville last week.
Advanced paramedic Donna Austin was among a team of medical experts to reach the 61-year-old within minutes, but said there was little they could do.
"I don't think he or Jaffa would have any idea of what happened, to be honest," she said.
Austin, who has 20 years' experience with St John, said two registered nurses and a GP were among others using advanced life-support equipment to try to revive McGill.
"Unfortunately I don't think anything we did was ever going to change the outcome. It was just so sudden."
Stephanie Butturini, who was also in the field of about 100 riders on the Tuesday hunt, was with her daughter Nicole and friend Jan when sheet lightning started.
"I said to Jan, 'don't worry, it's only fork lightning you have to worry about'. I'd no sooner said that than fork lightning started."
Butturini reached McGill, who was lying beside his horse, as the medics announced there was nothing more they could do.
"This is a strange thing to say, but Roger looked very peaceful. I'm sure he wouldn't have known anything."
McGill's wife, also called Stephanie, was unable to ride because her horse was lame but rushed to her husband's side with minutes of him being struck.
Butturini said McGill stayed with her family over the weekend but when his wife arrived on Monday night they stayed in a motel because he had promised her a holiday.
"I am just so pleased he was able to have that one special night with Stephanie."
McGill lived with his wife and their two young sons on a lifestyle block in Waitoki, northwest of Auckland.
He was a founding director of Theatre Corporate and won the respect of Hercules star Michael Hurst and his wife Jennifer Ward-Lealand.
McGill's 44-year-old widow said yesterday she was glad she was there when her husband died but was too distraught to talk further.
In an emotional funeral notice she wrote: "Many heartfelt thanks to the A1 medical team on-site, the caring and sensitive police team and all the supportive members of the hunt that helped and comforted Roger, Jaffa and me. Also thank you to all our awesome Waitoki community for providing support, practical help and hand-holding."
Austin said McGill always had a story to tell.
"No matter who you were, or what you did, he always was pleasant and always remembered your name. I've never heard anyone say a bad word about him."
Butturini said McGill was a "very capable" rider who loved his sport.
"He was a man you could talk to very easily. He shared stories of his family and children and his life easily with you." She said the couple's two sons, Hamish, 9, and Angus, 7, were asking "all sorts of things" about their father's death. "I don't think they understand."
McGill also has an older daughter, Olivia, from a previous relationship.
He bought Jaffa from his friend, Wairoa farmer Dennis Munro. Munro said McGill was an avid skier, a brilliant yachtsman and a generous host.
He said Jaffa was never particularly groomed until his new owners bought him. "They sent him to discipline classes... and his diet improved. Then he got to go around these fabulous hunts with Roger, so he really landed on his feet when he left the farm. So Jaffa turned into a Jafa really."
McGill's funeral will be held tomorrow. Jaffa will be buried on the property where he died.
STRIKING FACTS
* The MetService says, on average, lightning kills one person in New Zealand every six years.
* Weather ambassador Bob McDavitt says about a quarter of people struck by lightning die outright. The rest usually suffer long-term effects.
* A lightning bolt is a tube of ionised air as thick as a thumb. The charge is about 300,000C - the same temperature as the surface of the sun.
* Despite the saying, lightning regularly strikes the same place at least twice, with each bolt discharging up to five times.
* Lightning always strikes the highest point - including Auckland's Sky Tower last Tuesday.
* McDavitt advises anyone caught in an electrical storm to avoid high, exposed areas. If sheltering under a tree, make sure it's not tall.
* Globally, more people die from falling out of bed than being struck by lightning, he says.