CRIKEY! Steven Erwin Dead

[Ultralights]

just learned this morning of Steve erwins death, unfortunatly killed by a sting ray barb in the heart!

 

very sad news to lose a great Australian and emabssador to the environment.

 

My Condolences to his family, especially his 2 young children......

 

Television personality and environmentalist Steve Irwin has died

after being stung by a stingray while filming off north

 

Queensland.

 

Known worldwide as the Crocodile Hunter, the 44-year-old was

 

famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchcry

 

"Crikey!"

 

The Queensland Police Serviceissued a statement saying

 

Irwin collapsed after being stung at Batt Reef, Low Isles, off Port

 

Douglas about 11am. He had been filming a documentary.

 

"Steve was hit by a stingray in the chest," said local diving

 

operator Steve Edmondson, whose Poseidon boats were out on the

 

Great Barrier Reef when the accident occured.

 

"He probably died from a cardiac arrest from the injury," he

 

said.

 

Police said that, after the attack,Irwin's crew called for

 

medical treatment at 11am and the Queensland Rescue Helicopter

 

responded with a doctor and paramedic on board.

 

Puncture wound

 

Irwin had a puncture wound to the left side of his chest and was

 

pronounced dead at the scene.

 

Police said Irwin's family had been advised and Irwin's body was

 

being flown to Cairns.

 

It is believed his American-born wife Terri was trekking on

 

Cradle Mountain in Tasmania when the accident happened.

 

Police in Tasmania say she had been told.

 

The Irwins have two children, a daughter, Bindi Sue, 8, and a

 

son,Robert Clarence, usually known as Bob, 3.

 

When asked if he had ever heard of anyone dying from a stingray

 

barb, Matthew Hurley, general manager of Quicksilver Group, whose

 

company has taken tours to Low Isles for 26 years, said: "No,

 

definitely not.

 

"We've never heard of or been involved with anything like

 

that."

 

Ross Coleman, acting director at at University of Sydney

 

Institute of Marine Science,told smh.com.au it was "quite

 

rare" for someone to die from contact with a stingray and he

 

couldn't recall hearing of another incident.

 

Stingrays were "dangerous if provoked", he said.

 

"As a recreational diving instructor you hear of people getting

 

injured by standing on them ... but they rarely die."

 

'The zoo will go on'

 

Irwin's wife Terri would not close down the zoo, predicted Jim

 

Dalrymple, whose local irrigation firm helped maintain the water

 

supplies to Irwin's Australia Zoo in Beerwah on Queensland's

 

Sunshine Coast.

 

The zoo is the biggest local employer with 550 staff, Mr

 

Dalrymple said.

 

"I managed an irrigation business in Beerwah and had occasions

 

where I served Steve personally.

[Guest Fred Bear]

Great loss to Australia. Ironic that his life was taken by a creature that's not normally known for this sort of thing. RIP Steve.

 

 

[Ben Longden]

Vale; Steve.

 

A true inspiration of a bloke.

 

Ben

 

 

[River]

but also

 

Steve Erwin - He was “Australiaâ€Â… A fairdinkum bloke who loved Australia and nature, you’ll be missed mate.

 

I had the pleasure of meeting him before he was a media personality back before he was even on TV.

 

A young snowy haired youth who showed both myself and a group of visiting French Canadian soldiers his dad’s reptile park at Beerwah. I was tasked to give these visiting servicemen a tour of our south-east coastal attractions, etc and Erwin’s reptile park was only really a modified small roadside farm with a number of small snake holding pens.

 

The soldiers who apparently, if my memory is correct, did not have snakes where-ever they came from went to pick up one of the Death adders in one of the pens and I was only just able to stop the guy before he actually put his hand on the snake. It was real easy to lean over the pens small walls back then.

 

Then, out of the blue – this young youthful bloke runs up and hops straight into the pen which was full of Death adders and procedures to give the soldiers a rundown on ‘how friendly’ these snakes really are!!!

 

Dam, I had a hard time trying to stop these soldiers wishing to pick up snakes until I managed to get this young bloke aside and explain to him that these soldiers don’t know what serious dangers highly venomous can do. With that, this young snowy haired bloke came back with a collection of snakes in his hands and gave the soldiers a brilliant briefing on the how, when who and why, etc of snakes…

 

It was Steve Erwin.

 

I remember noting at the time this older man who was always ‘hovering’ around in the background and believe it was most likely Steve’s dad just keeping an eye on things.

 

A real Australian...

 

Sincerely,

 

Rodger