Witnesses tell of freak death of Steve Irwin

[CaptainK]

This story can be found here: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20349888-2,00.html


Sad story for a man who shared his adventures to the entire world!!

[northerncat]

yes we actually live in cairns where it happened and within an hour of the accident the whole fo cairns knew unofficially, we all had to wait to google it for about 2hrs before the news caught up as we couldnt believe and thought it was a big but stupid joke, the saddest thing is that he leaves two young kids behind.
sean

[SkiprJohn]

He'll be missed by a lot of fans throughout the world.
Regards,
JohnL

[hellosailor]

It's a hell of a freak, but didn't we all know he'd get "eaten" sooner or later? Stung, eaten, all the same. Some toys just ain't made to be played with.

[Alan Wheeler]

Yeah I guess we all thought that. But I think that was also part of what made him a "personaility". Many others do this sort of work, but I don't think any have the same "public recognition" as Steve Irwin did.
I was taught something many years ago that has stuck with me ever since. In can be applied to every career I believe.
You go to a circus and are entertained by the circus clown on a high wire. He makes you laugh and gasp at his antics high up int he air. He can look like he is about to fall yet doing some amasing stunts. The clown can only do this once he knows exactly what to do. He has had years of training and refining his skills. He is a career proffesional and knows the wire intimately. Then and only then can he "play the fool" on the high wire.
Form interviews with ones that have worked with Steve Irwin, similar stories have come out. As the public we see someone that we often think of as an idiot playing with death. But to his proffesional peers, he was someonen that took great care on the otherside of the camera. Lots of home work was done of the situation at the time, before he stood in front of the camera and let it roll.
One thing I really liked about what this guy did, was the way that he has taught us about the "truth" behind the semingly nastiest animals. I mean, A croc maybe dangerouse and needs a great deal of respect, but at the same time, I do not experiance the fear due to ignorance, of those Crocs anymore. Not that we have them here, but if I go to Oz, I am not going to stay 500m away from any puddles any more.:-)
Sadly, he has not convinced me of the same when it comes to spiders. :-(
My deepest sympathies to his Wife and Children.

[ssullivan]

What a freak accident, right? People get jabbed by sting rays all the time. Does anyone know how, exactly, it happened?
From where it hit him, it seems he was probably riding it like Superman from above it and it got irritated at him?

What are the odds...

[Sunspot Baby]

There is probably film but I'm not sure I want to see it.

A news report here said he was swimming very close to a sting ray and it got him under the rib and into the heart.

I have swum with, handled, petted, and otherwise interacted with sting rays many times, thinking little of it. A jab from the barb would be super painful, but not usually life threatening. Into the heart however would be deadly. Chances are so slim.

Being afraid to die is being afraid to live. At least according to his TV persona, Steve lived his life that way.

Yes he leaves two children, but assuming he made some wise choices with the money his fame brought him, they will still be far better off children of heros dieing elsewhere.

I am thankful for having enjoyed what he brought to understanding of things natural and the entertainment. We should all leave such a rich legacy.

George

[northerncat]

according to a friend of mine who works at the hospital the stingray barb penetrated his chest cavity entering the left ventricle, they had a doctor on the film crew, but he was apparently historybefore the helicopter could get to him. they reckon there wasnt much that could have been done anyway and that he would have been unconcious before they got him out of the water, the cameraman stopped filming when he saw blood and helped to get steve out of the water