• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • FFS PRODUCTIONS
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Mystery of video of Steve Irwin's death which caught his final moments on camera

Home> News> World News

Published 14:08 6 Aug 2023 GMT+1

Mystery of video of Steve Irwin's death which caught his final moments on camera

Steve Irwin's biographer Tommy Donovan has reflected on the tape recording of the wildlife conservationist's tragic death

Shola Lee

Shola Lee

Steve Irwin's biographer Tommy Donovan has reflected on the tape recording of the wildlife conservationist's tragic death.

The Crocodile Hunter tragically passed away on 4 September 2006 after he was killed by a stingray just off Australia's Great Barrier Reef while attempting to capture footage of a normally harmless stingray.

As the animal lover went near the creature, it raised its tail and stabbed him, with the whole heartbreaking ordeal caught on camera.

Why? Well, Irwin had a rule, according to biographer Donovan.

Advert

This year is the 16th anniversary of Steve Irwin's death.
PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo

"He tells his camera crew to always be filming," he explained

"If he needs help he will ask for it. Even if he is eaten by a shark or croc, the main thing he wants is that it be filmed. If he died he would be sad if no one got it on tape."

And that's what happened after his cameraman Justin Lyons caught the attack on camera, at first not realising the severity of the situation.

The pair had been trying to gather footage for his daughter's TV show, Bindi the Jungle Girl.

Advert

"It should have been an innocent encounter for a TV show aimed at children," John Stainton, the director of the show, explained.

When Lyons got him back onto the boat after the attack, Irwin 'was having trouble breathing'.

He said: "Even if we'd been able to get him into an emergency ward at that moment we probably wouldn't have been able to save him because the damage to his heart was massive.

Steve's family haven't seen the tape.
REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo

"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'."

Advert

Unfortunately, Irwin succumbed to his injuries, with both the attack and the attempts to save him all caught on camera.

The tape was then passed on to authorities to aid their investigations.

Once returned, Discovery Communications - the network that propelled Irwin's career - said that the footage would 'never see the light of day'.

Stainton, who was a close friend of Irwin's, then went on to say 'it should be destroyed'.

"When that is finally released [after investigations], it will never see the light of day. Ever. Ever. I actually saw it, but I don't want to see it again," he told Larry King Live.

Advert

All copies of the tape were destroyed following investigations, except one - that copy was reportedly given to Irwin's wife, Terri, who is said to have destroyed the tape without watching it.

If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677

Featured Image Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald /Jon Kopaloff/Getty

Topics: World News, Steve Irwin, Celebrity, Social Media

Shola Lee
Shola Lee

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
3 hours ago
  • Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
    an hour ago

    Olympic Team GB hopeful hits out after two-year ban for 'performing sex act on plane'

    The 23-year-old has been banned from competing in the sport after posting the controversial video

    News
  • Liverpool Echo
    2 hours ago

    Why an elderly couple have been banned from Aldi over altercation at the till

    A pensioner and his wife have been banned from their local Aldi for life after an altercation over bulk buying items

    News
  • Facebook
    2 hours ago

    Heroic passenger recalls chilling comment attacker made before stabbing him six times in train attack

    Stephen Creen recalled leaving his seat to confront the suspect on the train

    News
  • Facebook/Help Find Allan Bryant
    3 hours ago

    Dad of man who vanished on night out 12 years ago shares what he thinks really happened to him

    Allan Bryant hasn't been seen since he left a nightclub in Scotland in the early hours on 3 November, 2013

    News
  • Irwin family share emotional video of Steve Irwin describing ‘love at first sight’
  • Influencer apologises after being slammed for dressing up as the stingray that killed Steve Irwin
  • Robert Irwin shares video of him being bitten by same species of snake that bit his dad decades ago
  • Steve Irwin had brilliant plan to 'save the world' that's hard to disagree with