British comedian Tony Knight dies at 54 in ‘freak accident’

British comedian Tony Knight, also known as the Dog Listener, has died after a freak accident at a festival in France. Knight, 54, was struck and killed by a large falling tree branch at the Rock & Cars festival in Lavaur in June, a family member confirmed to Fox News Digital.

According to a French news agency The Tarn Freetwo branches fell from a large tree onto the festival grounds, killing Knight and injuring four others.

“He was fit, healthy, happy and had everything going for him,” Joanne Allen, sister of Knight’s longtime partner Hayley Wright, wrote on Knight’s GoFundMe page. “He was charismatic, funny, passionate and so loved by Hayley, his family and his friends around the world.”

In addition to his work as a comedian, Knight turned his passion for dogs into a second career as a dog trainer. “He helped people all over the world with his classes, whether in person, online, on the radio and television, e-books and more,” Allen wrote. “He was highly respected and admired. His methods worked and he loved helping people with their dogs.”

Knight had performed his comedy show Mad Dogs and an Englishman on stages in Australia and abroad and was about to perform a series of shows in the United Kingdom, Allen wrote.

“We are devastated that his life was ended in a freak accident,” Allen added, “an accident that we are all still trying to understand.”

His partner Hayley wrote a tribute on Instagram a few days after Knight’s death.

“He was an exceptionally talented man, with so many strings to his bow,” she wrote. “There was literally nothing he couldn’t do. He was a wonderful friend to so many, a great dog dad…but most of all he was my world and it will never be the same without him.”

“He probably would have ended this with a joke, but that was his talent and not mine… he really saw the positive side of every situation. I am truly devastated and in shock,” she concluded.

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