I've always thought he had a death wish, now it's been answered ("Come on, croc, fuckin' bite me! Kill me now, you're a big bastard! Come on now!") Bummer for his family, and all.
But the fact that it was a stingray of all things is kind of funny. It's like a tornado chaser dying by choking on a hailstone that fell into his mouth.
Now that he's dead, I'm excited for his pop status to start ridiculously inflating. Right next to your Tupac tattoo, under your Kurt Cobain t-shirt and below your Jesus necklace, will be a picture of Steve Irwin with a thought bubble of "Crikey!"
It's still hard to believe. He was a veritable Australian legend. And to think, I wanted to go to Australia Zoo and meet him one day... now I'll never have the chance.
At least he went out like a champ. Let's face it, getting stabbed through the heart by a giant pancake is the way to go!
I remember going to his park when I was younger, and watching him waltz into this seemingly empty enclosure without a care in the world. He casually announced that he was in the presence of two crocs (who were hiding in the water at the time), one a female who had just laid her eggs and the other a 13 foot monster male who is extremely aggressive... Even by crocodile standards.
Watching him draw the two of them out of the water, feed them, putting on a show the entire time and never once looking out of control or out of his depth was an experience that I've kept with me all my life. I can't say I wanted to be Steve Irwin one day, but he was probably the closest thing to a "childhood hero" I ever had.
I heard on the radio this morning that according to the camera man (who was obviously there when Irwin was stabbed), the last thing Steve did before he died was rip out the serrated tail of the stingray that had stabbed him. If that isn't a complete personification of his strong-hearted character, then I don't know what is.
He died doing what he loved to do, and while most of us thought he was crazy, we should think of him for what he was: a near-fearless man who was full of life and who loved his family.
I mean, in six months, we're gonna look back on this and say "Somewhere, someone won a $50 bet", but it still doesn't take the point away that he deserves our respect.
Apparently, he's only the third person ever to be killed by a stingray. Seems unlikely, but I wouldn't doubt that he died in a manner only a select few can.
Does this make stingrays more dangerous than crocs?
It feels, so, odd. I don't know the guy, he has no bearing on my life, Yet his death makes me fell rather crappy. I'm gonna miss his awesome moxious-ness, Goodbye Steve.
The guy was my hero. It really was a shock to know that he other day. I keep thinking about his wife and kids, and the legacy his father gave him. I bet she will pass that on to the children, but it won't be the same.
