Golfer dies after being struck by lightning at Ottawa golf course
One of the two men struck by lightning at an Ottawa golf course during a thunderstorm earlier this week has died.
Family members confirm to CTV News Ottawa that Jesse Hawkins, 36, of Ottawa, died in hospital after he was struck by lightning at Loch March Golf and Country Club in Kanata on Monday.
"Jesse was a great guy; he was super excited to be a dad," Jack McCarthy, Hawkins's father-in-law, said on Friday.
McCarthy says Hawkins and his partner Kaeli were expecting their first child in September.
"She's been shattered by this event," McCarthy said of his daughter Kaeli, adding friends, family and the community have been providing love and food this week.
Family members say Jesse Hawkins of Ottawa died after being struck by lightning at a west end golf course on Monday, June 26, 2023. (Family/submitted)
Hawkins was a big Ottawa Senators fan and loved the NFL, according to the family.
"He was a really, really thoughtful guy, he was supportive and had a great sense of humour," McCarthy said.
An Ottawa paramedic spokesperson said two men were struck by lightning while on the golf course on Old Carp Road just before 6 p.m. Monday. Several thunderstorms moved through the Ottawa area on Monday, bringing heavy rain, thunder and lightning.
Algonquin College says flags are flying at half-mast at the Ottawa campus in memory of Hawkins. He worked as an instructor in the Aircraft Maintenance Technician program.
Funeral details are still being finalized.
The Office of the Chief Coroner is investigating the death.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
OPP's mandatory alcohol screening during traffic stops 'not acceptable': CCLA
A spike in impaired driving-related collisions has caused Ontario’s provincial police to begin enforcing mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) at all traffic stops in the Greater Toronto Area -- a move one civil rights group says is ‘not acceptable.’
Maple Leafs down Bruins 2-1 to force Game 7
William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.
Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
Southern Alberta store broken into by burly black bear
Staff at a small southern Alberta office supply store were shocked to find someone had broken into the business last week, but they were even more confused when they discovered the culprit was a bear.
Captain sentenced to 4 years for criminal negligence in fiery deaths of 34 aboard scuba boat
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in custody and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.
New scam targets Canada Carbon Rebate recipients
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.