Crocodile Hunter Dies in Freak Accident
Since Steve Irwin and his show the Crocodile Hunter first aired on television many years ago there have been widespread rumours of his death on the internet. Everything from being killed by a shark, to being eated by a huge crocodile. I woke up this morning to headlines of his death and I thought it was just another joke, but all the major newspapers and even CNN claims that Steve Irwin is really dead.
This morning, at 11am Australian time, things finally came unglued for the 44-year-old as he was shooting a documentary segment on stingrays. Snorkeling on Batt Reef , a stretch of the Great Barrier Reef about 15km from Port Douglas in North Queensland, Irwin happened to swim over a large ray which, startled, whipped its barbed tail upwards into his chest. He died instantly. Veteran marine wildlife documentary maker Ben Cropp, who has spent hundreds of hours filming on Batt Reef, says Irwin had come too close to a bull ray. Citing a colleague who saw footage of the attack, Cropp says Irwin had accidently boxed the animal in, causing it to attack. “It stopped and twisted and threw up its tail with the spike, and it caught him in the chest,” says Cropp. “It’s a defensive thing. It’s like being stabbed with a dirty dagger.” Says Cropp: “It’s a one-in-a-million thing. I have swum with many rays, and I have only had one do that to me.”
Irwin leaves behind his wife Terri and their children, two-year-old Bob and eight-year-old Bindi Sue.
He has been a wildlife icon and an inspiration and will certianly be missed.
A statement on the official Crocodile Hunter webpage reads:
quotmedia statement – 4 September 2006
Steve Irwin
At 11am today, the 4th September 2006, Steve Irwin was fatally wounded by a stingray barb to his heart whilst filming a sequence on Batt Reef off Port Douglas for his daughter’s new TV series.
Emergency services were called from Cairns Rescue Base and met Croc One, Steve’s rescue vessel at Low Isle on the Great Barrier Reef.
The Croc One crew performed constant CPR during the thirty minute dash to Low Isle, but the medical staff pronounced Steve dead at approx. 12 noon.His producer and closest friend, John Stainton said on Croc One today,
“The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest Dads on the planet. He died doing what he loves best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. Crocs Rule!â€
One Response to “Crocodile Hunter Dies in Freak Accident”
Leave A Comment