Stingray kills 'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin

[Stormbringer]

I'll miss Steve Irwin...I'm still in shock and feel I've lost a member of my family. My own family have watched his shows and specials for years. Our thoughts are with his wife and children. RIP Steve.

 

[gajeep94yj]

I was on the Blue Angel dock in Cozumel when I heard this news. we had just gotten back from Cedral's (SP) Wall where we saw several rays. most of them were to far away to know what type of ray they were. none of us on the dock could believe it. It's still hard to believe it and I just read all 19 pages of this.

thanks for the info on Larry king live, I just told the tivo to record that. my wife and I sat up watching the Animal planet's tribute (?) to him last night.

I think he did more for conservation in his 44 yrs then all of us conbined will do in a life time.

 

[maggs_the]

someone else said this already, but i too feel like Steve was one of the few people that while i didnt know him and his family personally, i still felt like i knew him well enough to shed a tear over losing him. he was infectious with his passion and i could make fun of him all day, but i also admired him for his devotion to the creatures of this world. he may not have done everything by the book every time, but his dedication to the animal kingdom was his passion. Cheers mate and g'day.

 

[scubabum2]

Sorry - the devil made me put that now user-edited comment out there for a few minutes....had something in it about modifying a haloween costume???

Bottom line - hovering over stingrays is not a very bright thing to do, regardless of the circumstances or who you are.

 

[matts1w]

Good news - you can wear the same thing again this year but you'll need a stingray barb, glue & fake blood.

Completely classless.

 

[RickI]

Rest in peace Steve, the world is a poorer place for your passing.

I have tried to avoid swimming close to rays when passing over them for this reason for sometime. Rays can move so fast, striking pretty much anywhere close to their body. There must be thousands of leg injuries per year worldwide by startled rays that have been stepped on or come close to it. Thorax wounds are apparently far less common, good thing too. Steve's reaction speed was astounding, I suspect he just didn't see this one coming. There have been other similar fatalities in the past.

http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/pagerender.fcgi?artinstid=1026320&pageindex=1
http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/149/01/Russell.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2593906&dopt=Abstract

 

[occrider]

So apparently the video of the accident will be released. I'm not morbid, but I would like to see the exact circumstance of how the ray was provoked.

Show my death on TV
05/09/06

Footage of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin being killed by a stingray will be shown on TV to honour his wishes.

The daredevil’s cameramen captured the moment yesterday when the Aussie legend was stabbed through the heart by the fish’s deadly barbed tail.

Steve had always ordered his crew to carry on filming even if he was mauled to death.

So the graphic footage showing Steve, 44, being speared to death off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is set for a sensational broadcast.
Queensland Police seized the tapes as the death sent shockwaves around the world.

But it is understood Steve’s family have vowed to grant the real-life Crocodile Dundee his "dying wish".

Steve famously said: "My number one rule is to keep that camera rolling. Even if it’s shaky or slightly out of focus, I don’t give a rip!

"Even if a big big old alligator is chewing me up I want to go down and go, ‘Crikey!’ just before I die. That would be the ultimate for me."

An insider said: "This is exactly what Steve would have wanted. He knew the dangers and was totally up for the cameras to get everything."

Steve became a worldwide star thanks to cult show The Crocodile Hunter having a global audience of 500million in 126 countries.

In Britain, where his adventures are followed by an army or young fans, there were reports of youngsters weeping in schools as the news spread in the early morning.

Friend and producer John Stainton said Steve was swimming over the top of a giant stingray in shallow water when the normally placid stingray speared him in the chest.

Steve was hauled onto his research boat – Croc One – but paramedics could not revive him.

Bad weather had stopped filming for Steve’s new documentary – ironically called Ocean’s Deadliest.

He decided to shoot footage for an upcoming series hosted by daughter Bindi Sue, eight, who is just as passionate about wildlife as her dad.

That programe features footage of tiger sharks, turtles and stingrays and involved no apparent risks.

John added: "Bindi’s new TV show is going to premiere next January throughout America and the world.

"It should have been an innocent encounter for a TV show aimed at children. Steve was an integral part of that programme. We will do him proud and continue that effort."

Steve’s American wife, wildlife campaigner Terri, was trekking in Tasmania with their children Bindi Sue and Bob Clarence, two, when news filtered through.

They were last night flying back to the family home in Queensland where the couple ran Australia Zoo.

John said: "As they say, behind every good man is a good woman and she was the brains behind the operation. She’s a strong person."

Mourners were yesterday leaving flowers at the zoo, which was started by Steve’s dad Bob in the 1970s.

Family friend and Aussie PM John Howard led tributes describing Steve as "a huge loss to Australia".

Breaking the news in Australian Parliament, Mr Howard said: "He brought joy and entertainment and excitement to millions of people. He was a one-off character."

Steve is such a big Aussie icon that there’s even talk of a state funeral.

Africa’s great croc hunter Khalid Hassen – who has killed 17,000 of them – said: "Nobody else has done what he did. He was really an outstanding person, he was fearless and a showman."

Pal John added: "He died doing what he loved best. The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest dads on the planet."
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news_detail.html?sku=384

 

[parrottheaddiver]

a very sad day for the Irwin family, Australia, and everyone in the world that he touched. he will be sorely missed. RIP Crocodile Hunter.

 

[mislav]

Right now, the Animal Planet is paying a tribute to Steve Irwin by airing his shows. They're excellent. What a special guy he was. It's such a loss...

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Rest in peace Steve, the world is a poorer place for your passing.

I have tried to avoid swimming close to rays when passing over them for this reason for sometime. Rays can move so fast, striking pretty much anywhere close to their body. There must be thousands of leg injuries per year worldwide by startled rays that have been stepped on or come close to it. Thorax wounds are apparently far less common, good thing too. Steve's reaction speed was astounding, I suspect he just didn't see this one coming. There have been other similar fatalities in the past.

http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/picrender.fcgi?artinstid=1026320
http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/149/01/Russell.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2593906&dopt=Abstract

The last resource that RickI put up is very interesting. Here's the actual summary of the article:

1: Med J Aust. 1989 Dec 4-18;151(11-12):621-5.


Fatal and non-fatal stingray envenomation.

Fenner PJ, Williamson JA, Skinner RA.

Ambrose Medical Group, North Mackay, Qld.

A fatality occurred in a previously healthy 12-year-old boy after a penetrating chest injury from a stingray barb. The injury occurred under freak circumstances. Death was a result of cardiac tamponade which was secondary to venom-induced, localized myocardial necrosis and spontaneous perforation, six days after the direct penetration of the right ventricle by the barb. Three other cases of less serious stingray envenomation are described which illustrate the significant localized morbidity that may occur without immediate wound exploration and toilet after adequate anaesthesia. We also report a study of a series of 100 minor stingray envenomations which, when treated, resulted in no morbidity. It is possible that local infiltration with 1% plain lignocaine may have a direct counteraction against stingray venom that remains in the wound area. Stingray venom has insidious, but powerful, localized tissue necrosing properties in humans.

From this, and the reference to the "powerful, localized tissue necrosing properties in humans" of stingray venum, I surmise that whether or not Stever removed the barb, the result probably would have been the same. This one, in order not to be fatal, apparently must be prevented (penetrating chest injury into the heart from a stingray barb) in order not to be fatal.

SeaRat