I'll be happy if people say that about me when I'm gone.
Don't want to start an argument -- just a discussion. The topic came up between the wife and I at supper -- did Steve die because he was too cocky? I remember seeing him on Larry King after the Baby Dangling incident. He said something to the effect that no animal will do anything he isn't prepared for. I always admired his daring and the fact that he was the best at what he did (teach and entertain), but in the end did he perish because he was so good at what he did that he thought himself invincible?
Poke
I have followed Irwin for years and one thing i can say without a shadow of a doubt is that his on screen cockyness was backed up by a rational knowledge of the dangers of each and every animal and what they were capable of. He put his safty behind that of his entire crew and until this moment had never even been bitten/poisoned by a venamous snake, a fact he was rightly proud of.
And the same can be said for his crew.... no one has ever been hurt working for Irwin, a fact that not many directors can claim.
The baby thing was misjudged but, as he said, it's what his dad did to him when he was young and the only difference was it was never caught on camera, but being such a proud father he never would have done something that would have harmed or truly endangered his family.
Steve always new the danger of what he was doing, and often joked one day he would be killed on camera. But I honestly feel that he had some weird affinity with animals that not many other people do, can or will ever have.
Considering what he did and how often he did it, he has recieved very few injuries (and from my memory none serious) and that is because he knew the limits, which granted for him were further than any other person, and acted within them.
And at the end of the day it was a pure fluke what happened to him, to be one of only 3 people in Aus EVER killed by a stingray, a rare strike of chance.
I don't believe he thought he was invincible, I feel he just knew (like a stuntman does) what he was capable of and what the animals he worked with were capable of also.
He was dedicated to bringing the best TV and promoting the best conservation methods he could, no matter what, and in the end it was this dedication and desire to inform and educate that killed him, not his cocky attitude. And that is what we should remember him for.
On a side note any one out there wanting to make a donation should visit
http://wildlifewarriors.org.au/, a charity set up by steve that buys forests and conservation areas to protect them. I'm sure any donation, no matter how small, will be appricated.
