Sad News:Steve Irwin Was Killed
 

I just heard some very sad news. The crocodile hunter Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray. He was swimming underwater and the stingray's barb went right into his chest. It was a freak accident. They were filming an underwater documentary for television. I feel really bad about it. I really liked Steve Irwin. He was such a colorful character. He and Paul Hogan did a great job of promoting Australia.

That is messed up....

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/...ory?id=2391280

It's really a shame. He was a young guy. He was only 44. I will miss seeing him on television. I really enjoyed it when he would come on the late-night shows and bring different animals on the shows.

What a shame. RIP Steve...seemed like a very great guy :(

I'm so bummed. My thoughts and prayers to his family and friends. I really loved his enthusiasum and energy for life. Rest in peace Stevo

Rupert: I thought that was Jack Hanna!

I like Jack Hanna too. He does the same thing on late-night television as Steve Irwin. They would both come on and bring all kinds of exotic animals. I believe Hanna is the director of the Columbus Zoo. Irwin was a zoo director in Australia.

just awoke to this news as well....very sad. Loved that guy

RIP Steve

Many thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

just saw it on my homepage...freaky way to go...

leaves behind a wife and two young children, my sympathy to them.

that's so sad....when he first showed on animal planet in the 90's I watched all the time...nothing funnier. My roommates and I used to drink every time his wife almost got him hurt dropping alligators and such; he provided much entertainment and was an ambassador for his country and the animals he loved.

Sad news, can't believe a Sting Ray got him, this guy plays with Crocodiles, Cobras, Black Mambas, etc...And something that I was holding in Grand Cayman last year, kills him...I think he has some small children, terrible fo them

I should have looked down the page first
I posted the article in the wrong place after you

yes, he had small children

very sad

I thought the same thing.. Stingay? :eek:

RIP Steve Irwin.
Freak accident, very sad.

That is very, very sad. RIP Steve. My thoughts and prayers go out to Terri and your kids.

I'll miss seeing him on TV too. I really enjoyed his shows.

While fishing I had a friend step on an Atlantic stingray and the barb penetrated his ankle bones and broke off. He had five months of recovery and now walks with a permanent limp. Rays have those barbs specifically as a defense mechanism against sharks. They are nasty. They are the one animal that really scare me when I fish. Sharks are really not a problem. Rays are everywhere and stealthy. That swimming with rays crap, no thank you. Only with rays that lack barbs. The rays dont want to have anything to do with you. But amazingly they have a very bad habit of trying to get into your shadow while wading. So I never step back. I have a collection of their barbs. They are like multiple arrow heads one on top of another. Most people get lucky and the ray strikes with the barb which is located about a little less than half way up their tail on top, just punctures and withdraws. But when the barb breaks off. Thats major suffering.

Oh my brother got electrocuted by an electric ray. He said it felt like when he grabbed the back of a television set. Really hurt.

Steve Irwin was so full of life. Of course he got lucky many other times. He almost got killed by a snake. Really ironic though. God bless him and his wife and children. He seemed like a really good guy. A great teacher.

Witnesses tell of freak death of Steve Irwin


A DOCTOR and witnesses have told of the desperate efforts to save Australian icon Steve Irwin after the Crocodile Hunter was struck in the chest by a stingray barb today.

Irwin, 44, died this morning after being fatally injured while filming a nature documentary off Queensland.

The news has shocked the nation and prompted a rush of tributes from politicians and the public alike.

Irwin's wife Terri was in Tasmania at the time of the tragedy and had to be contacted by police with the terrible news.

The couple's daughter Bindi, 8, was with her father in north Queensland, Irwin's manager John Stainton said from Cairns.

Choking back tears, Mr Stainton said Irwin had gone “over the top of a stingray and a stingray's barb went up and went into his chest and put a hole into his heart”.

"He possibly died instantly when the barb hit him, and I don't think that he ... felt any pain.”

Professional diver Pete West was on board a nearby boat and was asked by Irwin's team to call in the emergency.

Asked on Channel 7 if Irwin was alive when they got him on his own boat, Mr West said: “I believe so.”

"He was doing what he did best and unfortunately today he wasn't quick enough."

Dr Ed O'Loughlin was aboard the Emergency Management Queensland Helicopter which was called from Cairns at 11.21am (AEST).

Irwin was being given CPR at Low Isles, off Port Douglas, as the helicopter arrived less than one hour after the incident, but Dr O'Loughlin said nothing could be done to save him.

"It became clear fairly soon that he had non-survivable injuries," Dr O'Loughlin said.

"He had a penetrating injury to the left front of his chest. He had lost his pulse and wasn't breathing."

Mr Stainton admitted he had always feared Irwin might meet his death while working with wildlife, but added that Irwin himself was never scared.

"We've been in some pretty close shaves. (But) nothing would ever scare Steve or would worry him. He didn't have a fear of death at all.”

Tragedy

Father-of-two Irwin was swimming at Batt Reef, off the Low Isles, when the tragedy occurred.

Tasmania Police this afternoon confirmed his wife Terri was travelling in the state at the time of the tragedy.

A spokeswoman said police had made contact with Mrs Irwin and "passed on a message relating to the death of her husband".

The Irwins have two children - Bindi and a three-year-old son, Robert (Bob) Clarence Irwin.

John Weigel, of the Australian Reptile Park on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, said Irwin's death would be "devastating to a lot of people".

"He walked into the room like someone had opened the window and let the light in.

"He seemed invincible and it's a great shock that it could happen."



I hate to be judgemental. And you got to live. But once you have kids its time to slow down a bit. Accchhh. Guys like this gotta do what they gotta do I guess.

pgard,

i agree 100%. you dance with the devil enough and sooner or later. bad deal no doubt, hope for the best for his wife and kids.

I'm really, really sad about this, but I figure, doing this kind of thing was his job-- it's what made him famous and what brought in their living. It sucks, but do you tell a firefighter to quit when he has kids? People get killed by car crashes every day-- you just never know when the bell tolls. And in this particular case, this seems like a freak accident-- much less risky than many of the stunts he did over the years. Irwin did a lot of good PR for the creepy crawly animals of the world-- he'll be sorely missed in the conservation movement. I lost a parent when I was young-- my heart also goes out to his kids and wife.

Here's an article on stingrays, for anyone who's interested:

http://salon.com/wire/ap/archive.htm...D8JU6KKG0.html

Oh, this just sucks. What a sad day.

GR. He put it on the line. It was a freak accident, the barb must have found its way between his ribs to hit his heart. But some reports say he had the ray cornered. They are dangerous just like the other animals he has fooled with. I have been around them all my life and they are by far the worst thing on our coast except maybe a school of man o war jellyfish.

As far as fireman and kids. File reports. Graduate to Arson investigator. If you have your choice the family has to come into play imo. But thats me. As soon as my girl is out of college, I plan on dying in the bay due to heart attack via a fight with a big ole redfish. Let the blue crabs have me after that. School teacher in me. I have seen too many kids come back to school complete wrecks after the passing of a parent.

Pgardn,
I've seen plenty of them wrecked when they had two parents.
KRIKIE!
You live, you take your chances, do what you are good at.
Some days you get a bull red, some days a bare hook.

Steve Irwin did what he did because he found meaning in what he was doing.
For sure, sting rays are defensive, and for sure his family will always miss him.
But if he had never put himself in the situation that he thought he could have handled, he wouldn't have lived. Tons of adrenelin. He touched many.
Think about that the next time you contemplate making a cast in the direction of a bull red.

FISH ON!!!

DTS

RIP Steve. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

He gave us many many laughs and shocks, but anyone could tell you loved life to the fullest. Thank you.


pgardn,

My husband is now saying I can no longer ride after I took a flying leap off of Buck yesterday. Is that going to stop me? NO WAY! I will be back tomorrow weather permitting. :)

Honestly, Steve's friend said it best, "He died doing what he loved".

Yes he did. And again I hate to judge. But once he took off that condom and his wife had a cookie in the oven... You have to think a little further than doing what YOU love when others rely on you.

Just me. I could be all wrong on this. But responsibilities change once you have little ones... again imo.
DTS. Of course kids have a hard time even with their parents sometimes. But... well I have seen the effects. The biggest fear of kids is the loss of a parent. By the time they get a little older... then you are allowed to die on them.

Watch me get killed tomorrow slipping on a wet floor.

I hope not! Stand on the bath mat!
You've been warned.

Bite your tongue, pgardn. The world would be a poorer place without you. :)

Having grown up without a mom after age 10, I can testify that yes, it sucks, but you get past it. But I don't think a parent can spend his or her life avoiding any sort of risk because of fear of dying on the kids. I would fear you'd wind up with grown-up children afraid of taking risks themselves. And this was his job and he made an awful lot of money doing it. And he loved doing it. It's more than a lot of people get in their entire lives.

My two cents, anyway.

You come down here and visit your son, go east to San Antonio, and I swear to God I will take you fishing in the flats. Then we both can die happy.

GR. DTS. There is an interesting tidbit of genetic information about finding a risk taking gene. They think they have located an area that make some people much more likely to take on stuff I would not... I guess Im lacking that gene. Or maybe I have it and it will switch on after my daughter is older.

Its not like I sit behind my desk and cower. Hell, I pulled (with pliers) the barb off a sting ray a fellow teacher caught just last week. And then we (the ray and I) played together, kind of wrestled around once I knew he was harmless.
We took him back iced down to show the kids in this teacher's aquatic biology class. He showed them all the different parts, the removed barb, the kids loved it. I can imagine the conversations tomorrow. All those kids in that class love animals and such and you just know they watched the show.

I've read about the risk-taking gene, and I think there is something to that-- I think some people are adreneline junkies, too. I've wondered if people like Chris Antley were-- they could handle life when they were doing something to get them their adreneline fix, but regular day-to-day life they couldn't handle.
I don't consider myself a big risk-taker, but I wish I were. My riding teacher says people are either "goers" or "whoa-ers" and sadly, I'm more a "whoa-er."

That's cool about de-stinging the stingray. I've petted de-stingered ones. I like handling the snakes at the zoo, but they're all constrictors, not venomous ones, so it's not like there's a whole lot of risk there.

How do you spell "adrenleline?" I'm also a bad speller...

Pgardn,
I really love Texas. Alas, my son isn't living there anymore. He's in Indianapolis. But someday soon I'd love to go fishing with you. If I don't watch out for the crabs, at least I'll have tried. Are we taking bets on which one of us catches the bigger red?
And please, Pat, make yourself available next summer for a trip to Toga and some trout and bass with me. I want to show you just as good a time.
That's all I was trying to say. Life is what we make it, and I'd like it to be filled with good or die trying to make it so.
I just might have the genetic predispostion for risk taking...but I think it might be environmental.
My dad always said, "Without risk, there is no gain."
I say, gain is good. In fact, I live for it.
If I didn't, why would I keep breathing?

Adrenaline I think. And I dont need that rush either. And at least you will get on a horse. I got taken off on one and he tried to brush me off on a fence and trees and that was it. Things that happen like this when one is young leave an impression. So DTS, if I do come, dont try and get me on a horse. And I do plan on coming. Just got to get my daughter away from a basketball in the summer.

Oh yea. I sleep with a snake. He stays in my boxers at night. A big Python. Species undetermined.

You know I would never have said that in public. I really did not want to type it. And Its not true. He is not a big python. But I had to go and do that. I could not let it go. What does that say about me. Im worthless and weak. Damn it to hell.

I humbly apologize to the board, Im weak.

I don't know anthing about stingrays. How big are they? I have gotten conflicting information. One person told me that they weigh about 50 pounds but another said they weigh about 250 pounds.

They probably come in different sizes, the ones we swam with in the Grand Cayman were probably about 2-3 feet wide...They did say they had stingers, but made them sound harmless, if I would have known about this, I doubt I would have swam with them. They took us out to a sand bar and the Sting Rays came swarming in, there was probably over a 1000 of them, we fed them squid and I held one, some people were actually kissing them.

The first time I ever came across him was just channel surfing. Irwin had enough charisma to break through my 10-nanosecond channel-surfing attention span. I was immediately amused and hooked.

My son was particularly fond of him. Irwin was the main reason my son wanted us to take a vacation to Australia some time. When my son heard the news yesterday, he sent an email to everyone on his contact list saying he was devastated. He's never done that before.

I think Irwin touched a lot of people that way. The world could use more people like Steve and his wife.

--Dunbar

Hee hee hee. It made me laugh. As long as no one tries to turn it into a purse or pair of boots...

Many different species with barbs all different sizes shapes, colors. The report Im getting now says he got hit underneath the rib cage, so that had to be a heck of a long barb to reach his heart, 8 inches by my reckoning. No way I swim with rays.

He must have put his shadow over the ray and it reacted as if he was a big shark. People wear ray protectors on their shins down here while wadefishing. I dont cause the hurt like hell to have on all day, and I spend a lot of time standing in my yak. These protective devices are basically souped up snake bite preventers. Go up your shins from the ankle. NOt comfortable.

GR. OUch. and shiver.

Yours truly with a similar ray this summer....I'm no Steve Irwin though as this ray was dead.

never mind....file too big.:o

That is like me, I am a svelt 180lbs on the internet but in real life I am pushing 500lbs.

You can pet stingrays at Sea World along with dolphins, not sure how much they weigh but now they can get real big, and GPK has a picture with one in his hands so they can only weigh about 4lbs, maybe 5lbs

My husband heard that they (the stingrays) were like 10-12 feet long or wide that Steve was swimming with. I was just talking to a friend at lunch about Steve, who said that she read the ray felt trapped because Steve was floating on top of it while the camera man was in front of it.

They do grow huge. We saw three of them out boating one time that were AT LEAST five feet wide. They were swimming around the boat. Needless to say, I did not get out of the boat.

Most of the rays that people swim with have their stingers cut off. Heard that at the news yesterday.

Does anybody remember the old NY horse named "Corma Ray". I believe he was an allowance or claimer who raced in the late 80's - early 90's. If anybody has any information regarding his whereabouts I would greatly appreicate it.

I was wrong, Corma Ray was more a mid 90's horse and it actually won at least a couple notable races:

1994 & 1995 runnings of the Hudson Handicap
1995 running of the Gen Douglas Mcarthur

Timmy Hills trained him and Choppy rode him most of the time.

What a hard knocking animal.