Canberra father of newborn dies after semi-trailer strikes him on Federal Highway

On the night of September 3, 30-year-old Harsh Sharma was struck by a semi-trailer on the Federal Highway at Bywong, close to Lake George, and died instantly. Sharma, an Indian national employed in healthcare, had just celebrated the birth of his second daughter three weeks prior, leaving a wife and two young daughters behind. Emergency services arrived at about 9.40 pm; Monaro Police District officers confirmed a pedestrian was hit and that the scene was secured for several hours.

The truck driver, also in his 30s, was taken to Canberra Hospital for compulsory testing, and NSW Police reported no suspicious factors and no charges. Community members, led by childhood friend Harkirat Singh, launched a crowdfunding campaign to fund the repatriation of Sharma’s remains to his hometown in Punjab and to support his family. Witness Nick Shelley described the scene as chaotic, with many vehicles stopping to assist.