Leah Drake used Facebook yesterday to thank friends for their support and pay tribute to "an amazing human being".

"Timmy had no regrets and lived every day as his last," she said.

"He loved you all and had a heart bigger than the universe."

Mr Fitzsimmons, 27, was critically injured when he slammed into the ground while attempting to perform a "swooping" move on a skydive about 9.30am on Tuesday.

It involved diving out of a plane with a canopy parachute and finishing by skimming just above water or the ground at high speed.

Mr Fitzsimmons had 12 hours of surgery at Liverpool Hospital, but died before midnight, a police spokesman said.

Ms Drake wrote a post on Mr Fitzsimmons' Facebook page yesterday thanking people for support. She said she would advise them when funeral arrangements had been made.

She earlier left a heart-felt tribute on her own Facebook page, describing Mr Fitzsimmons as her "soul mate, best friend and lover".

"My heart is shattered to a billion pieces, words cannot describe the pain I am in and only you could take it away baby," she wrote. "My world will be a lonely one without you but I know you will take away my darkness.

"I will love you forever visit me in my dreams."

Friends left Facebook messages yesterday telling of their sorrow and offering support to Ms Drake and the Fitzsimmons family.

Deborah Hobbs wrote: "Skydiving family are here for you and his family forever."

A spokesman for Sydney Skydivers, based at Wilton, said Mr Fitzsimmons was a highly experienced skydiver whose loss would be felt by many. "Tim [was a] much loved member of the skydiving community and will be greatly missed," the company said.

Mr Fitzsimmons grew up in Wollongong and worked at the University of Wollongong's UniBar before moving to Raby, near Campbelltown.

His profile revealed he had gone skydiving in many parts of the world in recent years.

Camden detectives are investigating the death.