The day Steve Irwin died, a friend and photographer was with him and accidentally recorded his last words on film.
Justin Lyon worked with Irwin on many of his films over the course of his career as a crew member.
Irwin was ki ll ed by a stingray while shooting Ocean’s Deadliest on the Great Barrier Reef in 2006. He was with Irwin at the time.
Justin said that they were recording when they saw the huge stingray moving toward them and chose to record it.
After shooting for a while, Steve suggested they take “one last shot,” which is when Justin says things went horribly wrong.
On the Australian morning show Studio 10, he said, “I had the camera and thought this was going to be a great shot.” But all of a sudden, the stingray leaned forward and stuck Steve with its tail.
Steve Irwin died in 2006. Credit: YouTube/Australia Zoo
“There were hundreds of hits in a very short time.”
When the sharp blades hit Steve quickly in the chest, he gasped for air.
Justin said that Steve was pulled back into the boat, where he realized right away how bad things were.
When Steve was having a hard time, Justin told him to think about his family.
“He just kind of calmly looked up at me and said, ‘I’m dying,’” he remembered. That was the last thing he said.
It was our hope for a miracle. I did CPR on him for more than an hour before the ambulance arrived, but they declared him dead as soon as they saw him.
Steve died at the age of 44. He is left by his loving wife Terri and their two children, Bindi, 8, and Robert, 3.
Steve Irwin grew the Australia Zoo with his family. Credit: Australia Zoo
Bindi and Robert, who are now adults, have done their animal-loving dad good by working at the Australia Zoo, which is run by their family.
Robert shared a very moving moment with his friends last month.
The environmentalist told people on social media that his late father had found a new species that would be coming to Australia Zoo.
In the video, the 19-year-old is moved to tears as he throws the snake into the water and says, “This is one of the best moments of my whole life…” This is one of the most exciting times for Australia Zoo because this is the first Irwin’s Turtle (Elseya irwini) hatchling for any zoo in the world.
Before letting the small turtle go in its new home, the young environmentalist showed a picture of his late father.
“All of Dad’s stories about how amazing and beautiful they are make it seem so real,” he said, adding, “Dad would be thrilled with that.”
