VIDEO: GoFundMe page set up to help 'devastated' Northampton family after lightning strike destroys their home

A GoFundMe page has been set up by the 'devastated' family of a man whose Northampton house was completely destroyed by a lightning strike.

At around 11.25pm on Wednesday (May 18), Patrick Richardson's home in Bective Road, Kingsthorpe, was hit by lighting during a storm.

Five fire crews went to the house following a 999 call at 11.28pm and found flames and smoke visible on the first floor and through the roof.

The house had four people in it at the time: Patrick, aged 68, his wife, aged 62, his son, aged 40, and his nephew, aged 28, who were all upstairs in their bedrooms when the lightning struck.

Speaking to the Chronicle & Echo, Patrick's daughter, Ann Marie Richardson said: "My cousin was on his PlayStation and he heard a big bang. He said he looked out the window and thought nothing of it, then he started to hear water coming through the ceiling.

"Someone started banging on the front door and it was only then when my family realised the roof was on fire. My cousin was telling everyone to get out.

"One minute it was okay and then the upstairs room was engulfed in flames. My aunty got stuck in the room and had to jump out of a window, it was the only way out.

"The whole roof has completely gone. The loft and all the bedrooms are damaged. They have lost everything upstairs. It's absolute chaos."

Patrick and his wife were both left hospitalised, while Ann Marie's brother and cousin got out with no injuries. Patrick has since left hospital but his wife is still receiving care after breaking multiple bones.

Asked what her dad's reaction was, Ann Marie said: "He doesn't know what to say. That's his whole life in that house. He's lived there for 25 years minimum. Everything in that house has just gone. Everything.

"You hear of lightning striking trees but you don't expect it to set your house on fire. Everyone's in shock. My dad's worried about his partner and everything in the house.

"It's devastating, really, for everybody. They've lost everything."

Asked for her family's reaction, Ann Marie said: "We're just trying to get out heads around it, taking each day as it comes.

"At the end of the day, material things are just that, they can be replaced. We're just lucky that everyone got out alive. It could have been a lot worse. You can't replace people. They're so lucky to be alive."

Ann Marie and the family are now appealing to the public for donations to help get her dad and his partner 'back on their feet'.

She said: "We can't really be gifted furniture because we have nowhere to store it because we haven't been able to sort the housing situation yet. But even if someone donates a pound, anything will help just to get them back on their feet."

Click here to donate to the GoFundMe page