[Louthcoombutt]

it is sad that steve died.. but on the bright side, paul hogan is still alive.

pete

[Arrecteve]

I read the article about this just before I came here . . . kind of stunned.

Sure, it's not a total surprise that he'd get killed by an animal, but it is very sad. My condolences to his wife, his children, his friends and family, and those who knew him.

Yea, he was a bit obnoxious at times, but he was passionate and dedicated in the way he lived his life - something 99% of people in this world lack.

Steve - you will be missed.

[anxpuna]

A man with a deathwish dies and leaves a millionaire widow and two kids.
And now everybody respects stingrays.
And my cousin worked at Australia zoo and got treated like shit.
Such is life.

[DoctorTOneery]

And to quote my old man...

"(Mum) told me you are already onto the news about Steve Irwin. One time too many too close to something nasty. He reckons that holding his infant son close to a croc was not dangerous, just “perceived danger”. Now he knows the difference between “perceived” and “real” danger – you end up dead when perceived gets real, and there’s only a whisker between them."

[endulundaSauh]

My deepest condolences to his family ... it's still quite a bit of a shock. I just heard the news at dinner; my bro came running down the stairs to tell us. Bloody sting-ray. I always dive and they're the most harmless creatures if you just leave them alone. Must be a freak accident, any details said on the news in Oz? Because I can't really find any on the net here.

Old Stevo has always been one of my family's favourite past-time ... "Crikey!" I'll sure miss him. It's really sad. In Thai there's a saying, Dr. Snake dies because of his snake. Don't know if you guys can relate haha

[WeissVine]

I heard about this on the news when I got up this morning. Quite a shame. He was a bit of a nutter, but he was still very entertaining. I feel sorry for his family.

[ManituIKOL]

I don't care who I offend, but anyone who celebrates or even jokes about being happy when someone dies is wrong in the head.
.

i may have this wrong, but i think alison was trying to make a positive feel out of a bad situation.
did any of us on here know mr irwin personally? i didnt, nor dianna. etc etc. yes its bad on the families, but plenty of people loose their spouses or parents in much worse ways, and are not left with millions of dollars, a zoo franchise or a roof over their head with the prospect of future income or royalty payments.

when i die i want people to be happy. because their life is going on, and they should live it to the full in their way, not mope over little old me, who in the whole grand scheme of things is a lot short of beong a nobody. i want them to celebrate the good times we had, etc. though people react to death in different ways, i respect that. i react in much the same way as alison did, try and lighten the blow by humour.

also, lets fae it, mr irwin as well as helping many animals also stressed a lot of them out in the name of media attention, which is exactly what happened here. hes the second recorded person to get killed by a normally docile animal, what does that tell ya.

rant over, sorry.

[slimfifa]

Yup, thats cool. I accept that. But that wasn't my point.

To me, disrespecting someone's death is possibly the worst thing you can to. I don't care how he or anyone else died, the fact of the matter is that he is dead, and it is just plain bad form to joke about it. I don't mind lightening things with humour, but to me (and i may have taken this wrong) but "I want to give the stingray a medal" isn't funny. The way I think of it is that anything I would say about the person who has died I would say in front of the persons family. I'm pretty sure that saying a line like that would upset most of his family. To me, that shit just aint funny.

I aint getting into an arguement over this. I didn't know the guy, but you don't have to know someone to be touched by their lives or feeling sadness for their passing. And you don't have to know someone to feel angered when they are disrespected in such a way.

As for the manner of which he died... It was a freak accident. He died doing something that he loved, and yes it was just a freak accident, like you said it is very very rare that this type of accident happens.

I have no qualms of trying to lighten the mood, but putting stuff like "The moron finally pissed off one animal too many" aint lightening no mood. I'm sure his family would be gutted if they read anything like this.

I am sorry if I have the wrong end of the stick, but to me those comments aren't trying to be nice. They are nasty and rude.

Stef, I know what you are trying to say here, but I'll just play the devil's advocate for a second...there are tons of jokes that are going to come out of this(in bad taste yes) and I've already sat through a fair bit over dinner(the man hasn't even been dead for 24hours). I'm kinda holding my tongue on the jokes out of respect...but still...

In Oz, ppl either don't mind him or hate him...and a lot of times its not the former. I'd compare him to William Hung...yeah, he got praise for his little phrase "I did my best" but at the same time(to me as a Chinese person) the guy is a joke and an embarresment as a Chinese role model.

I think a lot of Aussies feel this paradox about Steve Irwin. He's a bit of a yobbo but at the same time he's brought (like Mick Dundee) Australia to the world...albeit acting like a stereotypical country git. I mean he brings attention to Australia but maybe not in the best way possible...then again, any publicity is good publicity.

I think that's probably why you're gonna get comments like this from the Aussie quarter.

[Vegeinvalge]

What's worse is his wife is trekking in Cradle Mountain so whilst the entire world knows, she doesn't

The Govt' would send people out to tell her...then again its like the worse news to get out in the field. Can you imagine you get located by a helicopter crew and they drop a person down to you. You smile and say "g'day" and they go, "Ma'am...I got some bad this for you and I don't know how else to say this..."

Plus this is like totally unreal...I mean even when he was messing about with crocs or spiders and snakes etc...I mean if a croc bit him there were ppl there on standby to rescue him and even with the snakes and whatnot I'm sure he had antivenom on hand...but the stingray?!?Wtf? I mean right in his heart...what are the odds of that?

RIP

[truttyMab]

Wtf? I mean right in his heart...what are the odds of that?

I think it's about as probable as that I will score a perfect katate tsuki


Well, seriously. Steve Irwin was a maniac, but he was damned funny. I can't really understand what anyone would have against him actually. But then, I live quite far from Australia

RIP Steve, I hope there is a heaven full of crocodiles to poke with sticks waiting for you.

[Jueqelyl]

I grew up watching the guy on Animal Planet.

RIP Steve

[ggandibazz]

OK, sorry if I insulted anyones feelings, when I started this thread I was sure the whole thing was a hoax, like the time it was reported Steve Irwin died because of an allergic reaction to a mosquito bite. Noone here where I worked believed he had just got a stingray barb through the heart, whats the odds??

No aussies I know (bar one) like Steve. He portrayed Aussies as stupid, moronic, crocodile-wrestling ijits. Michael Jackson got slammed for holding a baby over a balcony - Steve held his next to a croc trying to gab a chicken out of his hand. Much worse in my eyes.

Yes its sad that he died. Yes he bought tourism here. What I said about the stingray was a joke based on the fact that the animal defended itself against someone annoying it for tv entertainment. Its just bad luck that it killed him.

[tobaccoman]

I'm very sorry to hear of his demise. Love or hate him, his character has brought nothing but a great deal of attention on wildlife and its conservation. It just sucks that he had to die such unlikely death, the day after Father's Day. He deserved better.

Vale Steve "Crickey!" Irwin!

[DoctoNilsonDen]

The Govt' would send people out to tell her...then again its like the worse news to get out in the field. Can you imagine you get located by a helicopter crew and they drop a person down to you. You smile and say "g'day" and they go, "Ma'am...I got some bad this for you and I don't know how else to say this..."

Plus this is like totally unreal...I mean even when he was messing about with crocs or spiders and snakes etc...I mean if a croc bit him there were ppl there on standby to rescue him and even with the snakes and whatnot I'm sure he had antivenom on hand...but the stingray?!?Wtf? I mean right in his heart...what are the odds of that?

RIP

I didn't even know stingrays could do that.

I agree, there aren't that many animals that can do such a certain one hit kill like that. THe bigger animals capable of it could be shot (with tranqulizers) if they show too much aggression, but a stingray that just shoots its barb through the heart.... Bad luck.

Didn't he get bit by a snake before? They had to rush some anti-venom or something.

[geniusxs81]

OK, sorry if I insulted anyones feelings, when I started this thread I was sure the whole thing was a hoax, like the time it was reported Steve Irwin died because of an allergic reaction to a mosquito bite. Noone here where I worked believed he had just got a stingray barb through the heart, whats the odds??

No aussies I know (bar one) like Steve. He portrayed Aussies as stupid, moronic, crocodile-wrestling ijits. Michael Jackson got slammed for holding a baby over a balcony - Steve held his next to a croc trying to gab a chicken out of his hand. Much worse in my eyes.

Yes its sad that he died. Yes he bought tourism here. What I said about the stingray was a joke based on the fact that the animal defended itself against someone annoying it for tv entertainment. Its just bad luck that it killed him.

FWIW, police reports based on viewing the footage say that Irwin was NOT antagonising or annoying the ray.

Here is another Aussie that respected the man for his enthusiasm and passion. Alison, my sister knows the Irwins and is grieving, all I have to say is I am ashamed to see you have the Australian flag on your thread.

I dont care if it was in jest, its just bad taste.

Sighs

[vulikox]

Why don't we all try not to get too upset about the Crocodile Hunter, okay? More than a handful of people have already expressed their disgust for this thread and Alison has apologized.
Let's just let it go.

[Ruilnasr]

A Shark and Ray expert who saw the footage of his death said it was probably the fact that the cameraman was in front and Irwin was swimming above that made it feel 'boxed' in. He was saying its not really anyone's fault, just that Irwin happened to be swimming over the animal at the wrong time.

[uniopaypamp]

and Alison has apologized.

Not exactly a great apology, as she proceeded to slag him of a bit more...