2008 Woodie Awards
Crocodile Hunter Meets Unexpected Fate
Laura Scaglione
Issue date: 9/14/06 Section: A & E
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Irwin was killed in a tragic accident that occurred while he was filming pieces for a show called "The Ocean's Deadliest." He was filming a show on the Great Barrier Reef when a poisonous spine of a stingray caught the Crocodile Hunter off guard and pierced him right through his heart.
Steve Irwin was born on February 22, 1962 in Essendon, Victoria, Australia. Irwin left behind wife Terri Irwin, two children, Bindi Sue and Robert Clarence, and an entire awestruck world. The general consensus of this man who is so well known across the globe is "I'm shocked." The one thing the world has to understand is that the man died doing what he loved best.
Steve Irwin turned a childhood love of snakes, lizards and knowledge learned from his father into a message of wildlife preservation that reached an audience of millions all over the world. Irwin grew up around animals such as crocodiles, and snakes at his parents' Queensland Park for reptiles.
Some of Irwin's trademarks were his memorable khaki shorts and shirts always accompanied with heavy work boots. He was also known for his famous catch phrase "Crikey!" that always popped up whenever Irwin had a close call.
Irwin believed that if he could touch people about wildlife then they would want to save it, even the ones that people had already labeled to be "dangerous." He wanted people to love the animals such as crocodiles and other reptiles that many people at one time or another wanted to kill. Irwin became popular due to the airing of his show in 1992 appropriately called "Crocodile Hunter."
Irwin's enthusiasm for wildlife spread like wildfire in huge part because of the he invited his audience to join him in seeing what he saw everyday. He was famous for saying the words "Come with me" always leading the cameras right into the homes of his animals.
"It's an unfortunate thing to happen to someone but I really think he was happy when he went considering he was doing what he loved most," said Anisha Marcel, junior, Long Island, N.Y. He was a man who was highly respected for diving into his work full steam ahead.
Even though many people think stingrays are dangerous, their sting, which is usually used in acts of self-defense, is not often fatal. Due to the way Irwin and his camera crew was reportedly set up in the water, the stingray could have felt cornered which would have led to the ray freakishly piercing Irwin right in the heart. Stingrays have a serrated, toxin-loaded barb on the top of their tail and this is what no man, not even the Crocodile Hunter could evade in such circumstances.
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