The man who suffered serious burns in a shed fire at Woodville last week has died in hospital, a close family friend has confirmed.
Des Richards, a father of two and "true blue" farmer, suffered burns to 60 per cent of his body during a shed fire on his Paterson Road property on Saturday, April 8.
The 68-year-old was cared for immediately by his daughter-in-law, who is a nurse, before paramedics arrived and put him into a medically induced coma. He was then transported to Royal North Shore Hospital.
Three days later on April 11, Mr Richards sadly went into multiple organ system failure and died surrounded by loved ones.
Investigations into the cause of the blaze are still ongoing.
Mr Richards is survived by his two sons, Ted and Musgrave, who are now tasked with keeping the family farm going, cleaning up after the fire, replacing what was lost and taking on funeral costs - all while mourning their beloved father.
Ted is the second in charge at St John Ambulance Maitland division.
Close family friend Emerson Worthington, who volunteers with Ted at St John Ambulance, has launched a GoFundMe fundraiser to help the Richards family cope with funeral and clean up costs.
"I think the hardest thing for everybody is that it was such a freak accident, nobody could expect it or plan for it," he said.
"Des has two sons that are left behind, they're both in their early 30s, one's got a three month old baby. They're just starting their lives and building their families.
"I think if the community doesn't rally around them, it's going to be extraordinarily tough for them."
Currently, four generations of the Richards family are living on the property, including Mr Richards' 94-year-old mother.
"This stress has just knocked them off their feet," Mr Worthington said.
"I don't think you can quantify losing your father, grandfather, son, brother. It's heart wrenching."
The family has estimated it will cost $250,000 to get back on their feet, from replacing their Manitou machine, eight tractors and shed, to cleaning up the damage, feeding their livestock and paying for the funeral.
Mr Worthington has launched a GoFundMe with a goal of $70,000, just hoping to cover costs of the funeral and clean up so the family doesn't have to look at the aftermath of the fire every single day.
"It's just heartbreaking, to wake up and walk out the front door and you can smell the burnt soil and the remains of the shed. It's tragic."
Mr Worthington said the shed itself was worth between $70,000 and $100,000, and the Manitou machinery is also very expensive, let alone the eight tractors.
He is also hoping the family can somehow get even a single tractor so they can continue farming, which would give them some security moving forward.
"They're very much a country town Aussie family, they're humble people and hard workers, and it's just such a tragedy," Mr Worthington said.
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