My+Hero

The Crocodile Hunter

For Steve and Terri, it wasn’t just about the show, it was about the animals. Through //The Crocodile Hunter// they educated thousands, maybe millions of kids, including me, how to treat animals right. They managed this in such a charismatic, thrilling manner, that the public became enthralled. Steve caught the imagination of our generation, and opened the door into the wonderful world of wildlife. Steve Robert Irwin was born on the 22nd of February 1962, in an Australian suburb. He grew up with two animal enthusiasts for parents, with an animal park in his backyard. On his sixth birthday he was given a four metre scrub python. He wrestled his first crocodile at age nine. In these years he began to realize his passion for animals. In his teenage years he worked as a volunteer for Queensland’s East Coast Crocodile Management program and saved over one hundred crocodiles. Steve took over his family animal park in 1991, and so began the legacy of The Crocodile Hunter. He met the love of his life, Terri Raines, during that same year, and married her in 1992. Steve and Terri spent a happy few weeks trapping crocodiles on their honeymoon; talk about an interesting couple! Film footage of this wildlife honeymoon was recorded, and soon became the first episode of the wildly popular Australian TV show //The Crocodile Hunter.// When the series debuted it was an instant hit, with Steve’s thick Australian accent, and his daredevil actions. The show made its way to America in 1996, and soon everywhere there were kids shouting “Crikey!”, Irwin’s signature line, when they saw a garter snake or a similar animal. He and Terri had a child in 1998, and another in 2003, these were Bindi Irwin, and Robert Irwin respectively. Bindi and Robert both starred in episodes of //The Crocodile Hunter,// and Bindi even became the star of her own wildlife documentary, //Bindi the Jungle Girl//. Steve loved his children dearly, and his wife once said, “The only thing that could keep him away from the animals he loves, were the people he loves more.” On the 4th of September, 2006 the world experienced a terrible loss; Steve Irwin had been stung directly through his heart by a stingray’s barb. While filming a section for an upcoming documentary, an aggressive stingray instinctively lashed out with its barbed tail as Steve and a group of divers were swimming overhead. By pure chance, the barbed tail pierced him in the chest, and slashing his heart in the process. Steve, in shock, ripped the tail out of his chest, but nonetheless went into cardiac arrest, dying a few minutes later. There was nothing his colleagues could do to help. Australia did not respond well: the next week, more than seven mutilated stingrays were found on beaches throughout Australia, most with their tails cut off. The world lost another hero, dying how he lived: with animals in his heart.