One Tree Hill actors Hilarie Burton and Sophia Bush rally around Bevin Prince after husband dies in lightning strike

One Tree Hill actors have shared their support for co-star Bevin Prince after her husband died from being struck by lightning.

William Friend, husband of Prince (who played Bevin Mirskey in the hit CW series), died on Wednesday (6 July) aged 33.

Friend was on a boat near Masonboro Island in North Carolina during a thunderstorm when he was struck.

According to local news station WECT-TV, paramedics attempted to resuscitate Friend for 20 minutes but he was pronounced dead in the ambulance.

Following news of his death, Sophia Bush – who portrayed Brooke in the show – shared her well-wishes for Prince on social media.

“Heartbroken and at a loss… Our family is grieving for one of our own,” wrote Bush on Instagram. “Please lift up @bevinprince in whatever way you are able. Show her the love she deserves; the love her husband always showed her.”

Hilarie Burton, who played Peyton Sawyer, also took to social media to post a photo of herself alongside Prince and their co-star Daneel Ackles.

“[Prince] is light personified,” Burton wrote in the post shared on Thursday (7 July). She called Friend’s death “unfathomable”.

“She and Will believed in Wilmington [the location where One Tree Hill was filmed] and the community there so much, they moved down from NYC during the pandemic to open up [a fitness company] @recessbybevinprince,” wrote Burton, who encouraged followers to donate to a GoFundMe page for Friend’s memorial if they are able to do so.

The GoFundMe for Friend’s memorial fund has already raised over $67,000 (£55,800) at the time of writing.

Ackles, who starred in the series as Rachel Gatina, shared a series of photos to Instagram on Thursday (7 July) paying tribute to the couple.

“It is hard to find the words to describe the loss of someone like you, Will,” she wrote.

“You did more in your 33 years than most will do in a lifetime. Your curiosity and zeal for any new adventure was [sic] infectious.”

Ackles went on to praise Friend’s “way of encouraging people to push their limits and reach for potential” that only he could see.

She concluded: “As I look around at the home you made, and the beautiful memories and photos you decorated with I am so glad you found each other if only for awhile [sic], and lived in such love. We will miss you forever.”

Prince is yet to address Friend’s death publicly.