Looks familiar..doesn't he?
Stephen Robert Irwin (22 February 1962 – 4 September 2006) was an Australian naturalist, wildlife expert and television personality.
Best known for the television program The Crocodile Hunter, an unconventional wildlife documentary series which he hosted with his wife Terri Irwin that was broadcast worldwide,he also owned and operated the Australia Zoo at Beerwah in Queensland with friend William Rollo and his wife.
All his life his motto seems to have been "Why put things in cages?"
His achievements are many...and the honours too numerous to mention in the confines of this post...
Irwin believed in promoting environmentalism by sharing his excitement about the natural world rather than preaching to people.
He considered himself a wild-life warrior with the mission to save the world's endangered species.He founded the Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation, which was later renamed Wildlife Warriors Worldwide, and became an independent charity.
For a guy who was given a scrub python on his sixth birthday, his love for reptiles only grew, so much so that he named his daughter "Bindi"
Alright, get ready for it: He named his DAUGHTER after a CROCODILE... not the other way around.
On 4 September 2006, Irwin was fatally pierced in the heart by a stingray barb, while diving off Queensland's Great Barrier Reef. He had been filming a segment for his daughter Bindi's upcoming television series. Irwin was in the area filming his own documentary, to be called Ocean's Deadliest, but weather had stalled filming. Irwin decided to take the opportunity to film some shallow water shots for his daughter's programme.
News reports say:
"Shortly after 11:00 a.m. local time , Irwin was filming off the shores of Low Isles, Queensland, near Port Douglas and north of Cairns, where he was stung either through his heart, or through the left side of his chest. After he was stung, emergency services were called from Cairns Rescue Base and met Croc One, Irwin’s rescue vessel at Low Isle on the Great Barrier Reef. The Croc One crew performed constant CPR during the thirty-minute dash to Low Isle.
The Queensland Rescue Helicopter responded, taking him to Cairns Base Hospital, where Irwin was pronounced dead on arrival at noon. He was not killed by the sting itself but from a puncture to the heart in turn causing cardiac arrest. The Queensland Police Service notified his family and released a statement for the media concerning his death. News of his death prompted a public outpouring expressing shock and loss."
His unabashed enthusiasm for dangerous animals and childlike energy (and specially his catchcry, "Crikey!") had dissolved all boundaries.
His friends and family often reported that he was to them as he was to the rest of the world — larger than life.
200 million viewers in over 30 countries around the world..no ,that's enough..
a man who had won fans all over the world will be remembered for not only a life less ordinary..but for a death..which, though untimely and most unfortunate, has sent a message all across the world to redefine PASSION..
We'll Miss you, Steve.
We'll miss you..
