'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin killed by stingray

[Trajan Octavian Titus]

'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin killed by stingray

(Filed: 04/09/2006)




Stingrays: the unlikely killers

Steve Irwin, the Australian television personality and naturalist known as the Crocodile Hunter, has been killed by a stingray's barb while diving.

Mr Irwin, 44, was filming underwater at the Great Barrier Reef when the accident happened.

He had been diving around Lowe Isles Reef, near Port Douglas, about 1,260 miles north of Brisbane.

"Steve was hit by a stingray in the chest," said local diving operator Steve Edmondson. "He probably died from a cardiac arrest from the injury."


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/04/uirwin.xml

This is a tragedy I loved this guy he was great.

 

[cherokee]

This is a tragedy I loved this guy he was great.

I was just reading that.......He was a goofball..but hell he got kids interested in something other than a video games.


RIP Steve

 

[MarineCorpsCandidate]

Well, I hope he Rests in Peace and I appreciate the education he provided about wild exotic animals. However, it also underscores that one should respect nature and understand what wild animals can do. I am sure, Steve respected nature but it was his love of nature that got him killed.

 

[Joby]

I feel extremely guilty for having rooted for the croc all those years...

Anyway, it's too bad. Probably be as national day of remembrance in Australia.

 

[Marilyn Monroe]

Thought he was a nice, enthusiastic man.

What happened was a feak accident. Stingray's hardly ever cause damage. Well anyway he'll be missed by a lot of people. I know I'll miss him.

 

[Jay R]

I am absolutely and genuinely gutted. Not suprised, but sad that he's finally met his end.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that the first thing Steve has done since passing on is to pull Saint Peter's beard at the Pearly Gates shouting "Crikey! Now he's really mad!". What a guy, he will be missed by every man who's ever stood in defiance of Mother Nature's wrath. He's wrestling grizzly bears in heaven now.

Here's to you Steve. :cheers:

 

[BodiSatva]

I know...what a total bummer. He did some of the coolest things that I had ever seen. He inspired me to go out and pick up a rattlesnake with a stick. Not too smart there Bodi!

Who the heck would have thought to go out and pick up the ten deadliest snakes in the world and video tape it...Spitting cobras spitting in his face (Great idea bringing glasses Steve-O)..lots of great scenes.

My heart goes out to his family. Wife and little one. Oh man, I hate to even think about what kinda of pain that would be.

He brought nature to the world in a way never before seen, and IT WAS GREAT! I havn't watched TV in about four years, so he had kinda left my mind...so this was a massive shock.

I know that people are dying around the world and he is just one guy, but a class act and a very positive one at that. "YooHOOOOooo!"

 

[danarhea]

RIP Steve Irwin.

You died with a smile on your face, and wildlife in your heart.

I know, I know, tacky joke, but I think he would want that as his eulogy.

 

[Navy Seal Patriot]

Of all the guys to get killed--why Steve? He would've been on tv for another decade or two easily--I don't really care for tv personalitys--this one was an exception. Plenty of scumbags/thieves/accomplices to murder of the GOP and Dem party deserve the stingray--not Steve.

 

[earthworm]

Mr Irwin was a real man, a rarity in todays politically correct and overly safety conscious world.
But, for some he may have come across as a goofball, my impression was that he knew exactly what he was doing, that he was very intelligent , as he survived for over 30 years leading a risky(to us) life..
We will miss him..

 

[Trajan Octavian Titus]

OIE!!! crikey she's such a beatiful crocodile I could just give 'er a kiss but den she might bite me!!!

****ing stingrays, after going up against 20 foot + crocs this is such a bullshit way to go out, death by stingray? WTF???

 

[TurtleDude]

Thought he was a nice, enthusiastic man.

What happened was a feak accident. Stingray's hardly ever cause damage. Well anyway he'll be missed by a lot of people. I know I'll miss him.

excellent post-freak accident-stingrays (I have had them sit on my chest while diving in the Caymans) are not considered "deadly"-though their sting can cause serious pain. This was a freak accident. Too bad, my 8 year old son loved his show and became quite interested in wildlife because of it. Prayers for his children and widow

 

[TurtleDude]

OIE!!! crikey she's such a beatiful crocodile I could just give 'er a kiss but den she might bite me!!!

****ing stingrays, after going up against 20 foot + crocs this is such a bullshit way to go out, death by stingray? WTF???

Good point-A fellow I knew in Kenya had fought Rommel and the Afrika Corps serving with "Monty", took out dozens of Mau Mau-some hand to hand, shot a more than a hundred charging lions and elephants-many of them mankillers only to die in Johannasberg when some guy's boat trailer came lose and crashed into his car. Sort of the same thing here

 

[tryreading]

RIP Steve Irwin.

You died with a smile on your face, and wildlife in your heart.

Bloody shame.

 

[Willow]

What a sad day. I dont' think I've been this upset since Dr. Suess died. What a shame.

 

[talloulou]

I loved this guy and this news was heartbreaking. He was my favorite. Now the only guy left to lust over on animal planet is that venom ER dr.

RIP Steve.

 

[faithful_servant]

My heart goes out to his family. Wife and little one. Oh man, I hate to even think about what kinda of pain that would be.

This is the part that frosts me. This guy has a wife and child at home and he willingly and knowingly put his life in danger unneccesarily. There are a lot of people who are saying what a great guy he was, but IMO, he was a failure as a father and a husband. He let down the people who most needed him by CHOOSING to do something that was so incredibly dangerous that death was almost inevitable. He left his wife w/o a husband and his child w/o a father. I have an incredible amount of sympathy for his family, but as for him, I have none. He died doing something stupid and left his family alone.

 

[Kandahar]

This is the part that frosts me. This guy has a wife and child at home and he willingly and knowingly put his life in danger unneccesarily. There are a lot of people who are saying what a great guy he was, but IMO, he was a failure as a father and a husband. He let down the people who most needed him by CHOOSING to do something that was so incredibly dangerous that death was almost inevitable. He left his wife w/o a husband and his child w/o a father. I have an incredible amount of sympathy for his family, but as for him, I have none. He died doing something stupid and left his family alone.

What part of "freak accident" don't you get? It WASN'T incredibly dangerous. There have been less than 20 people worldwide killed by stingrays in the last decade.

Do you have kids? Ever ridden in a car? Then you're putting your life in more danger than he was. Do you consider any parent who rides in a car to be neglectful?

 

[Purple]

He never saw his work as particularly dangerous and Kandahar is correct in his analogy, Steve Irwin was actually quoted as saying that he saw more danger in driving home at night than in his work with wildlife.

 

[danarhea]

Bloody shame.

Bloody shame you did not quote the whole post.

 

[talloulou]

This is the part that frosts me. This guy has a wife and child at home and he willingly and knowingly put his life in danger unneccesarily. There are a lot of people who are saying what a great guy he was, but IMO, he was a failure as a father and a husband. He let down the people who most needed him by CHOOSING to do something that was so incredibly dangerous that death was almost inevitable. He left his wife w/o a husband and his child w/o a father. I have an incredible amount of sympathy for his family, but as for him, I have none. He died doing something stupid and left his family alone.

I'm sure his wife knew what she was in for from the get go. In fact I believe she enjoys animals just as much. Personally I think he was professional and extremely respectful of wild animals, more so than most. Furthermore I went snorkeling this summer and there were sting rays, leopard sharks, and seals all over the place. Certainly that doesn't make me a bad mother! Leopard sharks don't generally attack just as sting rays don't generally kill. I'm not sure I agree he died doing something "stupid." He did engage in what would be considered by most to be a "dangerous activity" but I think he was very educated and wise when it came to wildlfe. Noone would ever have been able to predict a sting ray would end his life.

 

[faithful_servant]

What part of "freak accident" don't you get? It WASN'T incredibly dangerous. There have been less than 20 people worldwide killed by stingrays in the last decade.

Do you have kids? Ever ridden in a car? Then you're putting your life in more danger than he was. Do you consider any parent who rides in a car to be neglectful?

I didn't mean to imply that the activity he was doing when he died was dangerous, I meant that his very lifestyle was so oriented around life threatening situations that his death was almost a certainty. I can guarantee you that holding "the most deadly snake in the world" by it's tail is far more dangerous than driving my car. Irwin let his family down. That my bottom line. He could have done any number of other things to provide for his family and accomplish his goals, but he CHOSE to do something that had an almost certain potential for his untimely death. Playing with animals that are flat out deadly is something that single people with no children do. It's not something that a responsible husband and father does. Most people don't like my take on Mr. Irwin and that's OK, I guess. But to think that his actions were those of a responsible parent and husband is completely ludicrous.

 

[cherokee]

I didn't mean to imply that the activity he was doing when he died was dangerous, I meant that his very lifestyle was so oriented around life threatening situations that his death was almost a certainty. I can guarantee you that holding "the most deadly snake in the world" by it's tail is far more dangerous than driving my car. Irwin let his family down. That my bottom line. He could have done any number of other things to provide for his family and accomplish his goals, but he CHOSE to do something that had an almost certain potential for his untimely death. Playing with animals that are flat out deadly is something that single people with no children do. It's not something that a responsible husband and father does. Most people don't like my take on Mr. Irwin and that's OK, I guess. But to think that his actions were those of a responsible parent and husband is completely ludicrous.

Then what about a Cop, solider or firemen who has a family?
You cant live in a glass bubble, life is just that…. life.

His job was to get people interested in nature; he did that and did it well.

 

[faithful_servant]

I'm sure his wife knew what she was in for from the get go. In fact I believe she enjoys animals just as much. Personally I think he was professional and extremely respectful of wild animals, more so than most. Furthermore I went snorkeling this summer and there were sting rays, leopard sharks, and seals all over the place. Certainly that doesn't make me a bad mother! Leopard sharks don't generally attack just as sting rays don't generally kill. I'm not sure I agree he died doing something "stupid." He did engage in what would be considered by most to be a "dangerous activity" but I think he was very educated and wise when it came to wildlfe. Noone would ever have been able to predict a sting ray would end his life.

You're right, swimming stingrays doesn't make you a bad mother. However, if you made it your career to handle some of the most deadly creatures on the planet in a manner that invites them to kill you, then, yes, I would say that you would be a bad mother. Responsible parents do everything they can to protect their children and if you're dead, you can't do that. A paramedic I know told me once that he pulled a dead family out of a wrecked vehicle once. Neither of the parents were wearing seatbelts, had they been wearing them, they would have survived the crash. Had they survived the crash, they would have a chance to save their childrens lives. As a parent, you simply cannot afford to take unneccesarily high risks, the cost of doing so is far too high.

 

[cherokee]

I'm sure his wife knew what she was in for from the get go. In fact I believe she enjoys animals just as much. Personally I think he was professional and extremely respectful of wild animals, more so than most. Furthermore I went snorkeling this summer and there were sting rays, leopard sharks, and seals all over the place. Certainly that doesn't make me a bad mother! Leopard sharks don't generally attack just as sting rays don't generally kill. I'm not sure I agree he died doing something "stupid." He did engage in what would be considered by most to be a "dangerous activity" but I think he was very educated and wise when it came to wildlfe. Noone would ever have been able to predict a sting ray would end his life.

You could tell its what they lived for. The passion to teach and protect nature.
.