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Crikey! Croc Hunter Killed

Is it wrong for me to say "I can't believe it took so long for something like this to happen"? Seriously. This was not a guy who was going to die of old age.
 
We just had a chat about this in the office. Sad, but not unexpected. He also took a unique way to go, apparently Stingray deaths are all but unheard of. I'm sure he found a unique way to agrevate it...

Cut down in his prime.
 
The truth is, it was buried in the sand when he swam over top of it. He may not have even known it was there, or it had tried to hide from him. In any event, it felt "boxed in" somehow and threw its barb in defense. Unfortunately it was an unlucky one-in-a-million shot that actually pierced his chest and went into his heart. The worst possible place for someone to get stung.
 
We seem to have two threads going about this. The other is in the "News, Politics, and Rants" forum. Perhaps one should be closed, and directed to the other, or perhaps they could be joined?
 
It was surprising news. I can't say I ever liked the guy, never watched him... yet still I felt slightly sad. And it's really strange, because I have had no end of people mention this to me today. I can't believe that this guy that no one really spoke about here still made a mark in everyone's minds so much that everyone is talking to me about it.

And in some way it's a good way for him to go... not that it's good to die, but he'll probably live on as more of a legend now.
 
Sounds like a bad way for anyone to go out, and I don't have anything against "living in the moment" and all of that, but I can't help but think about the family he left behind. His kid(s) are gonna grow up w/o a father now.
 
Which they would have to have done if he'd died in a car accident.

He was a professional, and this really was a freak accident. Yes, he does dangerous things, but I wonder in the end which is more dangerous: a crock or an interstate highway.
 
As someone commented on the BBC website yesterday ... this wasn't a guy who was going to die of old age. Having said that, given that death by stingray is very VERY rare it is a particularly shocking way for him to go.

Never really 'liked' him all that much as a TV presenter, but I always admired and respected his passion for the animals and for protecting the planet. He will be missed.
 
I'm not sure if Steve's dad is still alive or not, but I do remember seeing him on the show once. Steve's mom died in 2000, and his father was still around then. He handled crocs and snakes for a lot longer than Steve ever did, and he was well into his 70s when I saw him on the show... so that's why I bristle a bit when people say of Steve, "well, he wasn't going to die young, that's for sure."

It's a much less conscious way of saying "I told you so" for all the times we watched him do what we considered to be crazy antics, and we're yelling at the TV that he's gonna get himself hurt. Steve understood and appreciated more about wildlife than most of us could ever hope to learn.
 
I heard on the radio this morning that supposedly there are only 17 reported cases of people dying via stingray attack in all of recorded history.
 
He probably also knew how to make it look more dangerous than it was. And he did have a medical team just beyond camera range in case something went wrong, I assume.

Houdini knew that his escapes were much more thrilling if people thought he was really risking his life. He wasn't, but boy did he know how to make it look like he was. :)

So how dangerous what he did was, is debateable. I know Jack Hannah (another t.v. show environmental guy) seemed to imply a bit that he thought Steve took too many chances.

But he still had all his limbs and he's been doing this for years. He must have known something.

Anyhow, it is a sad day for nature show lovers, crazy-Aussie lovers, and fans.

He certainly seemed to get the kids attention. :cool:
 
I think the whole thing is just awful. He had a wife and a family... :( and now he's gone. :( It's too sad.
 
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