Posted on 09/04/2006 6:50:04 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
FATALLY injured by a stingray, Steve Irwin pulled its barb out of his chest before losing consciousness, dramatic footage of his last moments reveals.
Friend John Stainton said the footage of the stingray attack which took the life of the Crocodile Hunter on the Great Barrier Reef yesterday was "shocking".
Mr Irwin, 44, died after the stingray barb punctured his chest while snorkelling off Port Douglas, in far north Queensland, yesterday.
A cameraman captured the incident during filming for Irwin's new project with daughter Bindi, eight, that was to debut in the United States next year.
"I did see the footage and it's shocking," Mr Stainton said today in Cairns.
"It's a very hard thing to watch because you're actually witnessing somebody die ... and it's terrible."
Mr Stainton, also a producer and director of Irwin's popular television shows, said the footage showed Mr Irwin pulling the barb out of his chest before losing consciousness.
"It shows that Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail came up, and spiked him here (in the chest), and he pulled it out and the next minute he's gone.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
The only one who I can think of is Jim Hensen of Muppets fame who died only because of negligence on his part.
The Tortoise in picture died too recently. Its name was Harriet and she was 175 years old making her the oldest living vertibrate in the world at the time.
By Nick Squires in Sydney
The Telegraph (UK)
(Filed: 05/09/2006)
He wrestled crocodiles, dodged deadly snakes and tormented tarantulas but, in the end, a freak encounter with a stingray brought Steve Irwin's love affair with wildlife to an abrupt end.
The effervescent Crocodile Hunter died as he lived — getting perilously close to lethal and exotic creatures while performing in front of the camera.
Australia was plunged into a state of shock yesterday after Irwin was killed by a stingray barb to the heart while being filmed snorkelling off Queensland. Irwin was famous for grappling with "salties", or saltwater crocodiles, in his khaki shorts and safari shirt.
He collapsed after being stung by the ray off the Low Isles, a clutch of sand cays near Port Douglas in the tropical north.
"He came over the top of a stingray," said his producer and best friend, John Stainton. "The stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart.
"He possibly died instantly when the barb hit him. I don't think that he felt any pain."
A tearful Mr Stainton insisted that Irwin had not deliberately provoked the creature.
The camera crew called in a rescue helicopter from Cairns but medical staff were too late to revive the 44-year-old celebrity.
He had a puncture wound to the left side of his chest and was pronounced dead on his boat, Croc One. His body was taken to a mortuary, where a post mortem examination was performed last night.
Irwin won fame worldwide for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his exclamation "Crikey!"
His American-born wife, Terri, a passionate big cat conservationist who met her husband while visiting his zoo, was trekking in Tasmania when informed of his death. She once described him as a Tarzan character; he said she was his perfect woman.
Irwin attracted condemnation two years ago when he held his one-month-old son, Bob, over a crocodile pen as he fed a chicken to a 13ft-long saltie at Australia Zoo, the wildlife park he owned on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.
Despite a barrage of criticism, Irwin was unrepentant.
"What I'd do differently is I'd make sure there were no cameras around," he said.
Irwin's television programme, The Crocodile Hunter, was first broadcast in 1992 and gained huge popularity on the cable network Animal Planet, with a worldwide audience of 200 million.
Unfashionably tight shorts, a tousled mop of blond hair, wide-eyed enthusiasm and irrepressible energy became his trademarks.
He knew his audience was often willing him to get scratched, bitten or stung by dangerous animals. "Now and again I do get bitten, but I haven't been killed," he said in an interview in 2003.
"There's no use sticking your head in the sand and going, 'Oh, they're only here because I talk well.' No, they want to see me come unglued."
While his unique style won him a loyal following in nations such as Britain, America and Japan, some Australians regarded him as an over-the-top parody of the "ocker" Aussie.
He acknowledged that while he was regarded as a "wildlife warrior" abroad, in Australia "some people find me a little bit embarrassing. They kind of cringe because I'm coming out with 'crikey' and 'look at this beauty'.
Is it because they actually see a little bit of themselves [in me]? I'm fair dinkum, like kangaroos and Land Cruisers." He insisted that despite the theatrics his work on endangered species was based on "fair dinkum science".
Radio stations and websites were flooded with messages from Australians mourning his unusual and untimely death. Flowers were laid outside the zoo and tributes were paid by colleagues and politicians.
One fan laying a wreath outside Australia Zoo summed up the national mood. Rod Cameron, from Brisbane, said: "Australia just lost a bloody good bloke."
There was a doctor on board, but there was nothing he could do from what I understand.
Big here in rural California too. Our family and friends are profoundly saddened by Steve's passing.
Yeah, I only know of one other case. My ex-Green Beret college roommate lost a buddy during a scuba training exercise. He drifted down to the bottom, and landed on the back of a stingray. It pinned him in the center of the chest.
He'll be missed here as well. I loved his shows.
A timely reminder that no matter the love we may feel for wild animals, they are still wild and react from instinct.
A tragic death indeed, my heart, prayers and consolences to his faily.
No apologies needed, this is BIG everywhere.
R.I.P. Steve, go with the Angels.
I don't know. I didn't feel the same way about JFK, Jr. dying.
Here is interesting info
It's big here too. He was a very brave man.
a life lived well though
cant imagine he'd survived any longer slappin a Dell and spending his days in a cube, churning out numbers
He'd have been miserable for sure
a mans man - enamored with Gods creatures
and more medical stuff
Med J Aust. 2001 Jul 2;175(1):33-4. Related Articles, Links
Survivor of a stingray injury to the heart.
Weiss BF, Wolfenden HD.
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, NSW. weissbx@usa.net
Injuries to the extremities from stingray barbs are not uncommon along the Australian seaboard. Cardiac injuries from stingray barbs are rare, even worldwide, and all but one have been fatal. We report a survivor of a cardiac injury caused by a stingray barb. Penetration of a body cavity by a stingray barb requires early surgical referral and management.
Fox News Channel just had a pathologist on. He said pulling the barb out would cause a lot of damage.
I don't doubt it but put in the same situation...
. . .and yes, he looked a lot like John Denver; but would not read more into the similarity.
Steve was a Star and when he died; he still was. . .STILL had. . .enormous star quality. . .enormous celebrity. . .and his 'good-will' went far beyond Australia as his joy for animals touched so many the world over.
What kind of world would we live in; if there were not those whose reach is so amazing and so brave?.
God speed, Steve; and prayers for all who knew and loved him.
Its pretty big here too. Hannity & Colmes spend over half their show tonight on this story.
Pulling it out could have been what killed him.
Didn't matter, the poison from the tail would have probably killed him, very toxic.
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