Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin is dead at age 44. He is survived by his wife and two children. Steve Irwin dead "Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and environmentalist known as the “Crocodile Hunter,†was killed Monday by a stingray during a diving expedition, Australian media said. He was 44. Irwin was filming an underwater documentary on the Great Barrier Reef in northeastern Queensland state when the accident occurred, Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on its Web site. The Australian Broadcasting Corp. said Irwin was diving near Low Isles Reef near the resort town of Port Douglas, about 1,260 miles north of the state capital of Brisbane." Crocodile Hunter killed by stingray.
Awwww crikey mates! that's to bad. The guy was Whack but fun to watch and he brought a lot of attention to enviromental issues and wildlife. Wildkow
It is a very sad day indeed He has done a lot to bring the natural world into the homes of people, children especially. I dont agree with a lot of his methods but still. I do envy him that he died doing what he loved. I hope one day it can be the same for me, just not when I have a young 3yr old? waiting for me at home
A shame, but yea, he would've rather died doing something like that than something stupid like cancer....still, too dang young.
A good and interesting article about Stingray stings and envenomations: http://www.potamotrygon.de/fremdes/stingray%20article.htm Also, someone had already updated the Wiki article on stingrays to include the Steve Irwin info, but I didn't find the wiki as informative or specific about stings.
wow, yeah, saw this on the news this am when i was eating breakfast. that's sad, but i agree that i'd rather go like that than from cancer. :mellow: i feel for his family. who would have thought it would be something that's not a croc?
The stingray thing is a pretty odd way to go. I didn't think a croc or gator would kill him...mame him a bit yea, but with all the crew and stuff it would be tough for a croc to kill him that quickly....and they're on terra firma so rescue would, presumably be more accessible. I actually thought one of the seriously poisonous snakes he liked to play with might be his doom...though I'm pretty sure he usually had antivenin with him to cover that contingency. I wonder if they had video recording when the fatal blow was struck...and if it was if we'll ever see it, esp. if he was doing something he shouldn't have to provoke the sting...like catching a ride. You see, rays can't voluntarily move their stinger...it's a reflex when their back is touched so somehow he had to touch it with his chest positioned over the ray.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Sep 4 2006, 02:59 AM) [snapback]313869[/snapback]</div> 'efusco' , You beat me to the punch line.. I was just telling my wife the same quote he was only 44.. I see someone has taken offence to the quote"he would've rather died doing something like that than something stupid like cancer". Please just lighten up & float a little, lifes to short to be serious all the time.. B) The full story: http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp...rwin+dies+at+44 Man thats gotta be really hard on his daughter who was with him at the time. (per the article) & they say his wife was in Tasmania exploring.. the article says she has also been notified.. Steve was very entertaining, yes he took risks & he knew the dangers of his proffession. He started it so others could follow and have their own shows like Jeff Corwin and the like. Its truely a sad day for conservationists :mellow:
That's terrible! He was great. Totally insane, but a wonderful performer; and unlike most performers, he was doing something really positive: increasing public awareness of the natural world and environmentalism, in a way that was really fun to watch.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusguy04 @ Sep 4 2006, 08:16 AM) [snapback]313925[/snapback]</div> Something stupid like cancer.... Try saying something as stupid as that to someone who is dealing with it, or perhaps their family. That was one of the most insensitive statements I've ever heard. :angry:
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sluggo42 @ Sep 4 2006, 09:42 AM) [snapback]313936[/snapback]</div> You might want to dust off the old Funk and Wagnalls. One of the definitions for "stupid" is something that is pointless or worthless. In this case it would be the cancer and not the cancer victim that is being called stupid or pointless. I can tell you emphatically that my mother's death in July was totally pointless and it was stupid that she had to die that way.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(8AA @ Sep 4 2006, 10:36 AM) [snapback]313954[/snapback]</div> i agree. for a second, i paused and had to think about it. but i wasn't offended, and actually agree that cancer is a pretty stupid thing.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sluggo42 @ Sep 4 2006, 06:42 AM) [snapback]313936[/snapback]</div> Perhaps, but he didn't mean it that way I'm sure. Efucso is a medical doctor and of all people that may have never had to experience the pain and hopelessness that surrounds cancer he would understand what a horrible thing it was. Me thinks you have had to deal with cancer at some point considering your reaction and I sympathize with your pain and suffering. It has stung me also and is nothing to joke about or take lightly. Wildkow <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(8AA @ Sep 4 2006, 07:36 AM) [snapback]313954[/snapback]</div> That's odd I looked through quite a few Dic's and didn't see that definition. But then again I couldn't find a F&W. Wildkow
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sluggo42 @ Sep 4 2006, 09:42 AM) [snapback]313936[/snapback]</div> Oh come on, I have cancer in my family too and efusco is right, it is stupid. Its a pointless and meaningless way to die. Come on do you really think he, as a doctor himself, meant anything negative towards cancer patients or their families? Don't be so sensitive.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SW03ES @ Sep 4 2006, 08:26 AM) [snapback]313984[/snapback]</div> I don't think s/he meant that it was intentional I think it was an admonishment about being insensitive. When you have lost a loved one or when you are in the midst of a life and death battle against something that succeeds for someone to call that "thing" whatever it is stupid implies that you are also stupid because you couldn't overcome it. Stupid was the wrong word "pointless" would have been a better one. But efucso didn't use it and this person took offense because of some (i assume) history with the disease. You all that are jumping on her/him should just back off and let it go. There are not too many points to be made here concerning either side of the issue and I think they have all been made. Wildkow Anyway the news is reporting that Irwin "... came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," I don't think he was supposed to do that but in any case it is still a sad day. I imagine that if the hole in the heart didn't kill him directly the poison/toxin that entered into the heart did. The stingray barb can be as much a ten inchs long and carries a excruciatingly painful toxin/poison. http://www.nbc10.com/entertainment/9784883/detail.html Wildkow
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Sep 4 2006, 06:59 AM) [snapback]313907[/snapback]</div> In which case I can only say...he should have known better. I appreciate his ability to bring environmental issues to public attention, and I sympathize with the loss to his family, but I cannot forgive his recklessness that has deprived his young family of his presence. I know it's all TV, but the fact remains he did take chances he should not have. Wild animals are unpredictable. He above all other people should have known this.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Sep 4 2006, 09:51 AM) [snapback]314022[/snapback]</div> Well if he had not taken chances we would not have had those issues brought forth. It's a dirty dangerous job but someone had to do it and I personally thank him. BTW it must have been a Big A$$ Stingray. Wildkow
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Sep 4 2006, 12:51 PM) [snapback]314022[/snapback]</div> Maybe not. Stingrays also like to do things like bury themselves in the sand. He might not have even seen it.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sluggo42 @ Sep 4 2006, 09:42 AM) [snapback]313936[/snapback]</div> I survived Melanoma and my mother-in-law is dealing with pancreatic cancer as we speak and I agree with Enfusco's discription of STUPID for cancer. What a pointless death for someone otherwise in great shape. It is so beyond our control. Scuba or other athletic activities have inherant dangers that are to be kept in control.
