Steve Irwin is dead

[AstrosAnonymous]

He was an icon, think about it. Everyone knows who he is even if they have never watched his show. They said the barb went under his rib cage and punctured his heart. Supposedly sting ray deaths are very rare, and it is pretty odd that he was one of the few with all his knowledge.

[777rak]

God bless his family

RIP

[McKain]

Awful news.

RIP.

For my pantomime speech in high school, I imitated Steve Irwin wrestling a crocodile. I will miss him dearly.

[HuskerFan2002]

That's really too bad.

I've been watching his shows and I can't think of one person who loves animals as much as he did.

[ATLien]

Wikipedia:

Shortly after 11:00am local time on 4 September 2006, Irwin was fatally pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while diving off Queensland's Great Barrier Reef. The events were caught on camera and the footage is now in the possession of Queensland Police.[22] He had been filming a segment for his daughter Bindi's upcoming television series. Irwin was in the area filming his own documentary, to be called Ocean's Deadliest, but weather had stalled filming. Irwin decided to take the opportunity to film some shallow water shots for his daughter's television program.[23] The BBC reported that this was only the second known fatality in Australian history from a stingray attack,[24] while The Age lists it as the third.[23]


The Queensland Police Service notified his family and released a statement for the media concerning his death. News of his death prompted a public outpouring expressing shock and loss. Several Australian news websites went down due to high web traffic [25] and talk-back radio experienced a high volume of callers expressing their grief [26], commemorating his passion and exuberance. Prime Minister John Howard, among many other politicians, expressed his "shock and distress" at the death, saying that "Australia has lost a wonderful and colourful son.” [27] Steve Irwin's body was flown to a morgue in Cairns, where stunned family and friends were gathering on Monday night. His wife Terri was informed of her husband's death while on a walking tour in Tasmania, and returned to the Sunshine Coast with their two children.