"Crocodile Hunter" - Steve Irwin. RIP

[fromdownunder]

Not sure where to post this, but Australia's "crocodile hunter" Steve Irwin has died in a freak accident while filming a documentary in Queensland.

He was pierced in his lung by a stingray. My heartfelt sympathy to his wife and children.

Norm

[pescifish]

I wish this was one of those fake reports, but here's the article at cnn.com (http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/04/australia.irwin/index.html).

I really liked the work of Steve Irwin and his wife, Terri. I will miss his boundless enthusiasm and good nature.

[RareBear]

C - r - i - k - i - e ! Done in by a bloomin' stingray.

[Miisa]

It was upsetting to hear that. I thought it was the heart?

At least he got to go with his boots on, figuratively speaking. :(

[ChuckF]

http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9875

[kiwimac]

Yes,

It seems as if the Sting caused Irwin to have a heart attack and die almost instantly. The police are saying that his wife (who is tramping in remote Tasmania) has NOT YET BEEN TOLD. Keep her in mind. It will be doubly hard for her, realising the rest of the world knew before she did.

[CEH]

I feel sorry for his wife and children...

:( I used to love his shows...I thought it was a joke when I first heard it, then I saw all the news reports...I feel like I'm going to cry...

As Miisa said, "At least he got to go with his boots on, figuratively speaking."

[Plant Woman]

Dying, doing what you love to do most, I think would be a good way to go. But he's so young. I wasn't surprised as I always thought he might, he certainly tempted death most of his life. I didn't watch him much, he was too hyper for my tastes, but I think he did a lot of good. I feel bad his wife and children are suffering a terrible loss.

[livius drusus]

I saw film of him at his daughter's birth, that crazy enthusiasm subdued into an expression of awe verging on worship as he held his child in his arms for the first time. What a devastating loss this is for her and her mother. :(

[LadyShea]

The newest reports say his heart was pierced, and his wife has been informed. I am sure there is some consolation in that he died doing what he loved and that he brought a lot of people joy with his exuberance.

[The Jesus Lawyer]

crikey!

stingrays are usually so calm...of course, he was probably poking it with a stick :)

[cappuccino]

Oh no :( I loved his show and his enthusiasm. What a devastating loss for his family. :(

[Legs]

Oh how sad :(

[J.T.]

This is a sad, sad day. :(

[freemonkey]

:( He certainly did express an immense joy for living, and that will be missed.

[Ari]

That's sad, I liked him.
This does seem like a freak acident as I doubt he would be dead if the ray didn't get him in his heart and obviously it wasn't aiming.

[Leesifer]

:(

[Miss Shelby]

I saw film of him at his daughter's birth, that crazy enthusiasm subdued into an expression of awe verging on worship as he held his child in his arms for the first time. What a devastating loss this is for her and her mother. :(
His daughter isn't that old. I just saw a newsclip on CNN from 2004 and his child was an infant then. :( How sad.

[LadyShea]

His daughter is about 8 I think, and he had a 3 year old son, named Bob of all things.

[Miss Shelby]

Oh, it must have been his son in the video clip.

[Miisa]

Bindi was born in 1998. I think they had a son later on, though(?)

Edit: Ah, too late, nm.

[Ari]

Actually his daughter is 8 and was/is going to have her own show/segment on animal planet. It was his son that is a baby and part of the infamous crocodile feeding flap a couple years ago.

Although I'm sure his wife will continue it, it is also a lose to animal-rights, as even though he was famous for maybe being a bit antagonizing, he spent a lot of time protecting wildlife.

[livius drusus]

Bindi is 8? Wow, I saw of the film of her birth much more recently than that. Poor kids. :sigh:

[Miss Shelby]

Actually his daughter is 8 and was/is going to have her own show/segment on animal planet. It was his son that is a baby and part of the infamous crocodile feeding flap a couple years ago.
They're showing the hell out of that clip on the news channels. I didn't even know about it before today. I think it's a shame, too, for them to be showing that when it caused so much controversy at the time. Can't they at least wait til after the funeral before they start doing that shit? geez.

[Miisa]

It's probably all the footage of him the news channels had on hand.

[pescifish]

http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9875 and
http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9886

[fromdownunder]

I think that everybody who saw it thought that feeding a Crocodile while he had his infant son under one arm was a stupid thing to do. And it was treated worse than it may otherwise have been, because it happened not long after Michael Jackson's baby dangle over the balcony, and got world wide condemnation.

But, had he just done a "mea culpa" afterwards, it may have gone away. What he did was to defend his actions loudly and constantly on national television for weeks afterwards. Not a clever thing to do - he must have been aware of the Jackson thing.

Norm

[viscousmemories]

I've seen clips and heard a lot about the show, but I've never seen it. I'm watching a repeat of the premier episode on Animal Planet right now, though.

[livius drusus]

There's film of yesterday's memorial service here (http://mp3.news.com.au/bcm/irwin-funeral.html). :(

[The Jesus Lawyer]

i saw the ceremony last night on the discovery channel here in canada. it was nicely done and seemed to fit the man...

he was a pretty cool dude.


michael :)

[ChuckF]

On the topic of the crocodile hunter, Norm Macdonald (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjJ6Cw03ZuA) was funny for the first time in a few years. :chuckle: