Steve Irwin

22 February 1962 - 04 September 2006

I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing this morning. Mum was telling me The Crocodile Hunter was dead. The Crocodile Hunter? Steve Irwin? Dead?

I still cant believe it :'(

The man who risked his life everyday to rescue and relocate crocodiles, and save many other endangered or distressed creatures, was killed in a freak stingray attack while filming off the Great Barrier Reef. He was only 44.

Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called "Ocean's Deadliest" when he swam too close to one of the animals, which have a poisonous bard on their tails.

"He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said his friend and colleague John Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat at the time.

Stingrays have a serrated, toxin-loaded barb, or spine, on the top of their tail. The barb, which can be up to 10 inches long, flexes if a ray is frightened. Stings usually occur to people when they step on or swim too close to a ray and can be excruciatingly painful but are rarely fatal, said University of Queensland marine neuroscientist Shaun Collin. Collin said he suspected Irwin died because the barb pierced under his ribcage and directly into his heart.

His death was only the third known stingray death in Australian waters.

As I am sitting here typing, I am still so stunned that this has happened. Steve has been in my living room almost every day for the past decade and I can't quite shake the feeling that I have lost a member of my own family as my prayers are with his. A feeling like something will never quite be the same again. There has never been anyone like him and by crikey I doubt we'll see another. His excitable, passionate and lovable character will be remembered by millions for many years to come. G'day mate.

Jo