THE Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, is dead. He was killed in a freak accident in Cairns, police sources said. It is understood he was killed by a stingray barb that went through his chest. He was swimming off the Low Isles at Port Douglas filming an underwater documentary and that's when it occured. Ambulance officers confirmed they attended a reef fatality this morning at Batt Reef off Port Douglas.
RIP. You play with fire enough you're bound to get burnt. Shame he died so young - 44. PS: Damn you buggers are quick! I went to see if anyone had posted it, and not one, but two threads!...
http://www.news.com.au/0,,nsw,00.html bloody shame, he seemed a decent bloke too, 2 young kids as well
Didn't realise the poison was toxic enough to cause cardiac arrest before they could administer an antivenom. Guess a direct sting to the chest could cause it. Surely they could have pumped the blood manually while the anti-venom went to work.
My kids very much enjoyed his shows on Discovery, we have a few of then on DVD. We are saddened by this news.
I just googled this--- 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. Australian coastal waters contain many species of stingrays, and injuries to the extremities caused by the barb or barbs on a stingrays tail are not uncommon. These wounds are painful, and may develop necrosis and secondary infection. Penetration of a body cavity by a stingray barb may cause major morbidity and even death, particularly with cardiac injury, and requires early surgical referral and management. Nasty way to die.......
I use to dive with the scuba diver at the National Aquarium in ACT and he always said the stingrays were bastards for biting him when he was feeding them, he wasn't that worried about the barbs ......... oh btw this guy and I got swept out to sea by being drongos so even the better divers can get into trouble by inattention , not saying this happened to Steve Irwin but sometimes your luck isn't there ... a damn shame
Man what a shock. A real weird feeling comes over you when you hear stuff like that. What a waste of a great life, gone so young. But he would have gone doing what he loves. RIP, croc dude.
sad news, especially for his young children... and yeah at least he died doing what he loved.. with wildlife..
Did anyone watch Today Tonite before? They had an interview with Iriwn's friend that was there with them, Paul West I think his name was. He was there when it happened. They helped Iriwn back into the boat after he got stung and then he was taken on his boat to land. He was still alive shortly after the sting when he was back onto his own boat. Paul was asked if he was still alive when they made it to land, but he could not confirm that. By the time the paramedics arrived, it was too late. R.I.P Steve.
Your behaviour would change too if you had to spend your life swimming in circles in a tank. In the wild, stingrays are nervous and incurious creatures, you will only get stung if you stand on one or attempt to handle it. Until today 2 deaths from ray stings were recorded in the last 100 years. Sorry, Steve Irwin built a career out of handling dangerous animals for no other purpose than making sensational TV. The odds finally caught up with him, even though its desperately sad for his family.
Terrible news. He was good for Australia and will be sadly missed. So sad for his young kids. I think I can safely say that there won't be another Crocodile Hunter.
