A Marlborough man who died after his tractor rolled 15 metres down a bank had just rescued a friend from a river west of Blenheim.
Lawrence Thompson was at his Renwick home on Sunday when a friend called to say his four-wheel-drive was stuck in the Wairau River, Onamalutu.
Thompson picked up a tractor from work and went to help, but rolled the vehicle on his way back.
His father, Peter Thompson, said he thought his son might have crashed the tractor because of sun strike.
Firefighters who also attended the river rescue told Peter Thompson they had problems with sun strike.
He said Lawrence must have thought he'd only be gone 15 minutes as he left the house unlocked.
Annette Thompson said her son was the type of person who would always help someone out if they needed it.
"He would always be the one there to help people and this happened when he was helping someone," she said.
Lawrence Thompson joined the Seddon Volunteer Fire Brigade when he was 16-years-old, following in his parents' footsteps.
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