Steve Irwin's heartbreaking final words caught on camera by his long-term friend

11 November 2023 , 12:00

878     0

Steve Irwin's heartbreaking final words caught on camera by his long-term friend

There was a point when legendary crocodile hunter Steve Irwin was all over our screens - hunting and tackling massive reptiles up until his death in 2006 after he was attacked by a stingray. Justin Lyon, Steve's long-term crew member, revealed that they had all been on an inflatable boat when they spotted the giant stingray swimming towards them in the water.

Fans around the world were shocked when Steve, who almost seemed invincible, died. The Aussie hunter, 44, kept on filming despite the infection and literally uttered his final words whilst shooting a documentary titled Ocean’s Deadliest on the Great Barrier Reef. The crew tried to capture the sea creature with Steve and Justin slipping out of the boat. But after several minutes of gathering amazing footage of the Stingray, Justin recalled Steve asking to secure ‘one last shot’ before they finished filming for the day.

Steve and his wife Terri four years before his tragic death (Daily Record)

The plan was for the 44-year-old Crocodile Hunter to swim behind the dangerous stingray in order for his perfectionist cameraman to bag a shot of the ‘massive’ creature swimming away. He told the Australian morning program Studio 10: “I had the camera and thought this was going to be a great shot. But all a sudden the stingray propped on its front and started stabbing Steve with its tail.

“There were hundreds of strikes within just a few seconds” he added. The stabs came from a dangerously sharp barb at the end of the stingray’s tail, which rapidly pierced Steve’s chest leaving him gasping for air. Immediately, the wildlife presenter felt excruciating pain after the sea creature's stab “went through his chest like a hot knife through butter”.

Steve's lookalike son (Youtube)

Justin recalled his dear friend standing in a huge pool of blood after the attack before he was pulled back into the boat where he voiced his final words. While Steve fought for his life, his cameraman urged him to think of his family - wife Terri and children Bindi and Robert - but unfortunately, it was too late.

Mystery over 'lost' Steve Irwin death tape that recorded harrowing last moments

According to his final memory of Steve, Justin recalled his friend looking up at him calmly and uttering the words “I’m dying."

“He just sort of calmly looked up at me and said, ‘I’m dying’. And that was the last thing he said. We hoped for a miracle. I did CPR on him for over an hour before the medics came, but then they pronounced him dead within 10 seconds of looking at him.” A proud dad of two, Irwin’s son and daughter were just three and eight years old at the time.

Steve Irwin's son Robert aims to follow in his dad's iconic footsteps and finish the work that he started

Following their father’s tragic death, both Bindi and Robert have followed in his footsteps. His daughter Bindi, who is expecting her first child with her new husband, is now a wildlife conservationist while his son Robert, 19, is a wildlife photographer.

Susan Knox