Steve Irwin How Did He Die: Net Worth, Daughter, Age, Wife, Last Words

Steve Irwin Death Cause: In September 2006, Steve Irwin was filming a video in the Great Barrier Reef when a stingray’s barb suddenly pierced his chest. Just moments later, he was dead.

In the late 1990s, Steve Irwin rose to fame as the popular host of TV’s The Crocodile Hunter. With his unbridled passion for animals and daunting encounters with dangerous creatures, the Australian wildlife expert became synonymous with the show that bore his enduring nickname.

Steve Irwin How Did He Die

On September 4, 2006, Steve Irwin and his TV crew headed to the Great Barrier Reef to film a new series called Ocean’s Deadliest.

Just over a week into filming, Irwin and his crew initially planned to shoot scenes with a tiger shark. But when they couldn’t find one, they settled on an eight-foot-wide stingray instead — for a separate project.

The plan was for Irwin to swim up to the animal and have the camera capture the moment that it swam away. Nobody could’ve predicted the “freak ocean accident” that would happen next.

Instead of swimming away, the stingray propped on its front and began stabbing Irwin with its barb, striking him multiple times in the chest.

“It went through his chest like a hot knife through butter,” said Justin Lyons, the cameraman who filmed the ill-fated scene.

Lyons didn’t realize how severe Irwin’s injury was until he saw him in a pool of blood. He quickly got Irwin back in the boat.

According to Lyons, Irwin knew he was in trouble, saying, “It punctured me lung.” However, he didn’t realize that the barb had actually pierced his heart.

Lyons said, “As we’re motoring back, I’m screaming at one of the other crew in the boat to put their hand over the wound, and we’re saying to him things like, ‘Think of your kids, Steve, hang on, hang on, hang on.’ He just sort of calmly looked up at me and said, ‘I’m dying.’ And that was the last thing he said.”

The cameraman added that the stingray had done so much damage to Irwin’s heart that there was little anyone could’ve done to save him. He was just 44 years old when he died.

As for the reason why the stingray went after Irwin, Lyons said, “It probably thought Steve’s shadow was a tiger shark, who feeds on them pretty regularly, so it started to attack him.”

According to Lyons, Irwin had strict orders that anything that happened to him should be recorded. So that meant that his gruesome death and the multiple attempts to save him were all caught on camera.

The footage was soon turned over to authorities for them to review. When it was inevitably concluded that Steve Irwin’s death was a tragic accident, the video was returned to the Irwin family, who later said that the footage of Steve Irwin’s death had been destroyed.

Steve Irwin Daughter, Wife

After Steve Irwin’s death, the Prime Minister of Australia offered to hold a state funeral for him. Although the family declined the offer, fans quickly scrambled to the Australia Zoo, where they left flowers and condolence notes in his honor.

Fifteen years later, Steve Irwin’s death remains heart-wrenching. However, Irwin’s legacy as an enthusiastic wildlife educator is still revered to this day. And his commitment to conservation continues with the help of his two children, Bindi and Robert Irwin.

Irwin’s children grew up handling wild animals just as he did as a child. His daughter Bindi was a regular fixture on his TV show and also hosted her own wildlife series for kids, Bindi the Jungle Girl. His son Robert stars in the Animal Planet series Crikey! It’s the Irwins alongside his mom and sister.

Both of Irwin’s children have become wildlife conservationists like their father and help run the Australia Zoo with their mother. And before long, a new generation of Irwins will likely be joining in on the fun. In 2020, Bindi and her husband announced that they are expecting their first child.

There’s no question that Steve Irwin inspired his kids to carry on his legacy. And it’s clear that they’re determined to make sure his love of animals is never forgotten.

“Dad always said he didn’t care if people remembered him,” Bindi Irwin once said, “as long as they remembered his message.”

Steve Irwin Net Worth

Before his death, Steve Irwin was estimated to have a net worth of $30 million. Ngnews 247