Steve Irwin dead

[BunnyJas]

I will miss this guy. I used to enjoy watching his shows even though at times I really thought he was nuts. One thing no one can deny was his love and dedication to the wildlife and he did everything he could to educate people on it. My heart goes out to his family and I hope the media will give them some space during this difficult time.

[Crosshair]

My dad had this to say about his death, "Yea, it's sad. But when you go around poking a bear in the *ss you have to expect something bad to happen eventualy." My mom is kinda upset. At least he died doing something he loved, though I think some of the stuff he did was stupid and unnessasarily risky. He at least was interesting to watch. I wonder if the crew got it on tape. From his IMDb bio:

He tells his camera crew to always be filming. If he needs help, he will ask for it. Even if he is eaten by a shark or croc, the main thing he wants is that it be filmed. If he died, he would be sad if no one got it on tape.

So the film of it happening will probably eventualy make it to the public. The really scarry thing is that even if your heart it completly destroyed or stops beating, you have about 15 seconds or so of consciousness. (No it's not like the movies where they die instantly.) That would kinda suck, better to go instantly IMHO.

[COMINATCHA]

There has been alot of news stories on about Steve here, and i've been watching them, only now realising how much this guy did. He earnt millions of dollars and put most of it towards good causes. Nearly made me cry actually, i'm guna be a mess after I watch the T.V special that's on tonight about him.

He also helped our tourism industry so much, by spreading the word about Australia's unique animals, and how good this place is

They interviewed a child phsyciatrist who said that alot of children will be affected by his death, cause they looked up to him as a 'hero' and it will be a shock to them to learn that somebody so full of life could suddenly be dead.

They say that there will never be another Steve, and I reckon that's very true.

[Tejas]

many years ago i went to australia zoo - i would say about 15 years ago, before steve and terri became huge celebs - i think he had only made 2 or so tv specials at the time.

i was lucky enough to meet steve and terri at that time and get my picture taken with them. i went back to the zoo about 3 or 4 years ago and was lucky enough to get the get the picture signed by him and terri, along with an updated one.*
steve was a bit over the top, but you could never deny his love of animals, nature, his work and more importantly his wife and children.
he has been one australia's best tourism ambasadors, and will be missed.
the amount he has dome for this country may never be known, and my condolences are with his family and friends

[Cia]

Steve is my nephew's hero and my daughter likes his shows and the movie. I always thought he was a bit nuts but being nuts helps when you are working with animals that think of you as food or are poisonous. My sympathy goes out to his family and friends.

[RavenStarr]

My son is a big Steve Irwin fan. So much that he said his dream was to move to Austraila and work with him.

I'm still in shock that he died. I guess it's just hard to believe he's not here with us anymore.

[lordlundar]

I reiterate:


I'm not saying everyone should like the guy or be upset by his death, but I believe that "Don't speak ill of the dead" or, "If you don't have anything nice to say, keep it to yourself" apply here.

Who's speaking ill of him? Like I said, I may not be bawling my eyes out for him, but I do respect him. He lived how he wanted to, and died the way he wanted to.

Sorry if there was any mis-wording on my part.

[NightAngel]

I like Steve quite alot. I didn't realize how much until last night when I was telling someone at work what I'd read about the incident and I got a little choked up.

They interviewed a child phsyciatrist who said that alot of children will be affected by his death, cause they looked up to him as a 'hero' and it will be a shock to them to learn that somebody so full of life could suddenly be dead.

My oldest son loves Steve also. I feel fortunate that he is a teen and understands things a bit better than some of the younger children will. Although, if this had happened a few years ago I can imagine trying to explain to him that one of his favorite tv people had died.

My deepest sympathies to his family.
May you rest easy Croc Hunter- we miss you.

[Phoenix79]

I just wanted to add my condolences to the thread.

Steve was a larger than life guy, and like others have said, he went out like he would have wanted to . . . doing what he loves. I just feel badly for his kids, and all those kids that look up to him . . . sad stuff.

RIP Steve!!

Phoenix

[SteverinoNY]

I wasn't going to comment as I only watched his show once or twice and thought he was totally crazy, but seeing all the nice words people wrote about Steve Irwin made me re-think what people thought of him. He did have a genuine care for animals and although reckless (IMHO), did respect them and knew what they could do to him. He seems like a person who didn't fear death, but rather relished life to the point where he was able to do what he loved, despite the risks.

I feel sorry for his family as the two little ones will grow up with out such an outstanding man as their father and his wife will be without the man she married and built the family with.

We'll miss ya Crocodile Hunter...here's one more "Crikey"

[Myra]

Husband and I have always enjoyed nature shows, and we especially enjoyed Steve Irwin's "Croc Diaries" about his day-to-day goings on at the zoo he and Terri run. We also watched a special about him trying to find and track the biggest crocodile ever. It was just amazing to me how he cared about all these animals, and worked so passionately to make sure everyone knew about them and their situation. Someone emailed me this video on YouTube of him mourning the loss of a crocodile in his zoo. It was just touching to me that he felt that strongly for the poor guy.

Yes, his antics were a little nutty sometimes, and you found yourself chuckling at Crocodile Hunter jokes, but in the end you realized, this guy was vital to the animal world. He did a lot of good work.

My sympathies go out to his family, Terri and the kids, and his friends. Rest in peace, big man.

[ditchdj]

Someone from my hometown once got nailed by a stingray like he did, except she got it in the hand.

http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=5364421

[One-Fang]

His show was never to my taste, but what I've heard is that he spent almost all of the income on land in Australia to dedicate to conservation causes. I know he lived humbly, and was humbled by the attention he got in Hollywood by stars there. He was "a real Aussie bloke" who never let the fame get to him. All that is why I liked him, despite not liking the show. This is a great loss.

His work was important and good. It would be a shame if it were not continued by his family or some trust or something now.

I feel for his poor wife and kids. Losing someone suddenly is not easy. At least with an illness or even an accident (and dying say, three days later), you have some time to come to grips with what's happening. But to suddenly be told "he's already gone". ... Wow.

The prophetic words about filming his eventual death ... wow again. If the wife permits, it'll go public and it'll be sensational. As tasteless as it is and as much as we are disgusted by each other, we all want to see gore happen live on TV. (Generalising the population, please feel free to exclude yourself from that generalisation).

As others have said, at least he died doing what he loved. Mr Fang has a dangerous hobby and I sometimes fear I'll lose him, but I have to step back from that voice inside that says "Tell him not to do this!!!" and let him live how he wants, including dying that way, if that should be.