NBot SAT news, sorry but, had to put it here....:cry:

Report: 'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin Killed by Stingray

source:foxnews.com


CAIRNS, Australia — Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and environmentalist known as the "Crocodile Hunter," was killed Monday by a stingray while filming an underwater documentary on the Great Barrier Reef. He was 44.

Irwin was killed by a stingray barb to the heart on Batt Reef, off the remote resort town of Port Douglas in northeastern Queensland state, his wildlife park Australia Zoo said in a statement.

Crew members aboard Irwin's boat, Croc One, called emergency services in the nearest city, Cairns, and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to nearby Low Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead a short time later, the statement said.

Irwin was famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchword "Crikey!" in his television program "Crocodile Hunter," which was first broadcast in Australia in 1992 and has aired around the world on the Discovery channel.

He rode his image into a feature film, and developed the Australia Zoo as a tourist attraction.

"The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest dads on the planet," John Stainton, Irwin's friend and producer, said in the statement. "He died doing what he loves best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. Crocs Rule!"
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who used a photograph of his family at Australia Zoo for his official Christmas card last year, hailed Irwin for his work in promoting Australia through projects such as "G'Day LA," an Australian tourism and trade promotion week in Los Angeles in January.

"The minister knew him, was fond of him and was very, very appreciative of all the work he'd done to promote Australia overseas," Downer's spokesman Tony Parkinson said.

Irwin's dedication to conservationist causes led him to become a vocal critic of wildlife hunts in Australia. The federal government recently dropped plans to allow crocodile safaris for wealthy tourists in the Northern Territory following his vehement objections.

Irwin told the Australian television program "A Current Affair" that "killing one of our beautiful animals in the name of trophy hunting will have a very negative impact on tourism, which scares the living daylights out of me."

However, Irwin had also received negative publicity in recent years. In January 2004, he stunned onlookers at the Australia Zoo reptile park by carrying his month-old son into a crocodile pen during a wildlife show. He tucked the infant under one arm while tossing the 13-foot reptile a piece of meat with the other.

Authorities declined to charge Irwin for violating safety regulations.

Later that year, he was accused of getting too close to penguins, a seal and humpback whales in Antarctica while making a documentary. Irwin denied any wrongdoing, and an Australian Environment Department investigation recommended no action be taken.

He is survived by his American wife, Terri, from Eugene, Ore., and their daughter, Bindi Sue, 8, and son, Bob, who will turn 3 in December.

The couple met when she went on vacation in Australia in 1991 and visited Irwin's Australia Zoo; they were married six months later. Sometimes referred to as the Crocodile Huntress, she costarred on her husband's television show and in the 2002 movie, "The Crocodile Hunters: Collision Course."

Stingrays have flat bodies and tails with serrated spines, which contain venom and can cause cuts and puncture wounds. The creatures are not aggressive and injury usually occurs when a swimmer or diver accidentally steps on one.

He will be missed. My kids loved watching his shows.

Sounds "fishy" to me. A stingray barb to the heart? It could happen I suppose. I never liked the guy myself, but he did have a lot of episodes on the Discovery channel that were enjoyable. If he really is deceased, it should have been by an inland tia pan or the like, not a stingray. This story reaks of urban myth. I doubt very much Mr. Erwin is deceased. If your relying of Foxnews, then your working with a handicap from the word go....and this is yet another example supporting that assertion.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/04/australia.irwin/index.html

Yeah I hate the way CNN spreads rumours and urban myths.

If you don't belive him why not take 5 minutes and check it at a reputable source before accusing him of posting false stories.

Obviously you have an internet connection.

For me the jury is still out on this one. It just does't make sense that the dude would go down due to such a common fate. ....I expect to see quite a few more eipisodes of "the crocodile hunter" in the near future. So should you. You did notice your link was to the entertianment section of CNN didn't you?

I still cant believe a stingray kicked the crocodile hunter's a**

:no:

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,20355097-953,00.html



Bullray 'lashed out'
September 05, 2006 12:00am


MARINE documentary maker Ben Cropp, who also was diving on the Great Barrier Reef yesterday, said Steve Irwin was killed when a bull ray lashed out at him in shallow water.

Cropp said he had contacted a member of Irwin's production crew late yesterday.
"I spoke to one of the guys who was out there, who saw the footage. I wanted to get the truth," said Cropp, 70, who also runs a museum at Port Douglas.

Cropp said Irwin was swimming as his cameraman was filming bull rays at Batt Reef, when the tragedy occurred.

"In this case he was swimming alongside a bull ray, a big black ray, and the cameraman would have been in front, filming him.

"Steve got probably maybe a bit too close to the ray, and with the cameraman in front, the ray must have felt sort of cornered.

"It baulked but didn't spook and go racing away, which would have been fine. It went into a defensive mode, stopped, turned around and lashed out with its tail which has a considerable spike on it.

"Unfortunately Steve was directly in its path and he took a fatal wound," Cropp said. "It was a freak accident in that the spike caught him in the chest . . . near the heart."

Cropp said the incident occurred in water less than 2m deep. Members of the film crew were "very upset".

"I trust this person has told me the full info . . . he admired Steve, the way I do, and he would have liked to get everything straight so there are no false stories running around."

Cropp, who has made several documentaries over the years, also said he had experienced similar responses from stingrays when he was filming them.

http://www.cnn.com/

Listed on the front page top

First thing I read today when I logged on . Very sad , I enjoyed his show
very much. At least he went doing what he loved.

Very sad news :sad:

R.i.p.

Ohh man,
I hate to get this news...
RIP

Unreal and very sad to hear this. After watching all his stuff on TV interacting
with Crocodiles, I thought he would depart the Earth by one of them. Never in the sea...

I feel very sad for his family, my thoughts and prayers are with them.

Very, very sad!!!!:cry: :no:

Can't believe he got nailed by a stingray. I like his shows, he'll be missed by crickey!!:(

I Did Not Know Ray's Could Kill You. I Posted This In The Rant Section Becase I Did Not See Your Post, Did Not Mean To Be Repetive.

Steve played with dangerious animals and then he is killed by a Stingray, which is not considered to be a dangerious animal. I really liked his show and me and my family will miss him.

RIP Steve

Sorry guys, but it is true.. I had posted this early this morning when the news first broke on Yahoo.. Checked it out with a couple of "down-under news media outlets....and it was indeed true... So sad to see him go.. he was a hoot indeed...

http://forums.dsstester.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=65679

BRISBANE, Australia - Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and environmentalist known as the "Crocodile Hunter," was killed Monday by a stingray during a diving expedition. He was 44.

Irwin was filming an underwater documentary on the Great Barrier Reef in northeastern Queensland state when he was stung, Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on its Web site.

He collapsed at Batt Reef, near Low Isle and the resort town of Port Douglas, Queensland state police said in a statement. Port Douglas is about 1,260 miles north of Brisbane, the state capital.

A rescue helicopter rushed to the scene but Irwin had died, the statement said.

Queensland ambulance service spokesman Bob Hamil confirmed that a diver had been killed by a stingray off Lowe Isles Reef and said cause of death appeared to be a "stingray strike to the chest."

Irwin was famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchword "Crikey!" in his television program "Crocodile Hunter," which was first broadcast in Australia in 1992 and has aired around the world on the Discovery channel.

He rode his image into a feature film, and developed the Australia Zoo as a tourist attraction.

Irwin had received some negative publicity in recent years. In January 2004, he stunned onlookers at the Australia Zoo reptile park by carrying his month-old son into a crocodile pen during a wildlife show. He tucked the infant under one arm while tossing the 13-foot reptile a piece of meat with the other.

Authorities declined to charge Irwin for violating safety regulations.

Later that year, he was accused of getting too close to penguins, a seal and humpback whales in Antarctica while making a documentary. Irwin denied any wrongdoing, and an Australian Environment Department investigation recommended no action be taken.

Irwin was also seen as a vocal critic of wildlife hunts in Australia. The federal government recently dropped plans to allow crocodile safaris for wealthy tourists in the Northern Territory following his vehement objections.

Irwin told the Australian television program "A Current Affair" that "killing one of our beautiful animals in the name of trophy hunting will have a very negative impact on tourism, which scares the living daylights out of me."

He is survived by his American wife Terri, from Eugene, Ore., and their daughter Bindi Sue, 8, and son Bob, who will turn 3 in December.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who used a photograph of his family at Australia Zoo for his official Christmas card last year, hailed Irwin for his work in promoting Australia through projects such as "G'Day LA," an Australian tourism and trade promotion week in Los Angeles in January.

"The minister knew him, was fond of him and was very, very appreciative of all the work he'd done to promote Australia overseas," Downer's spokesman Tony Parkinson said.

Stingrays have flat bodies and tails with serrated spines, which contain venom and can cause cuts and puncture wounds. The creatures are not aggressive and injury usually occurs when a swimmer or diver accidentally steps on one.

Yeah, nobody had bigger balls than that dude. He'll be missed.

Well as a rule Rays cant really kill a human but where the barb hit is why. I punctured his heart and they are reporting he died instantly
He had a large hole in his heart from the barb. The barb is poison, but usully does not kill.
Im glad he went the way he did, instead of in a car accident or getting sick etc...he died doing what he loved and while it is a big loss to all who loved to watch him and learn from him...and moreso his family....at least he didnt suffer and he went doing something he loved to do.

Sorry to hear the news about his death. I like many watched his shows in facination. This makes two of late. The guy who lived with the bears sadly
was also killed by a bear. Too many too close. Great loss to the world of
wildlife documentries.:(

i never liked the guy, but he did have a love for what he did and entertained millions of people from all over, they say that people have died because of stinray on 3 other occasions, he had bigger balls than most people, as im sure there arent very many people who would do the things tha he did, he will sureyl be missed, condolences go to his wife, children, family and friends, its a hard thing alot of people to deal with and even i hate hearing such sad news

Shit! I hate being wrong or out of line, but it does appear the man is in fact deceased. Didn't care much for the dude myself, but he didn't deserve to die. I still think there is more to this story than we're hearing though...

Well as a rule Rays cant really kill a human but where the barb hit is why. I punctured his heart and they are reporting he died instantly
He had a large hole in his heart from the barb. The barb is poison, but usully does not kill.
Im glad he went the way he did, instead of in a car accident or getting sick etc...he died doing what he loved and while it is a big loss to all who loved to watch him and learn from him...and moreso his family....at least he didnt suffer and he went doing something he loved to do.


Yeah, I had always heard that stingrays could kill you with their tails, and heard they were poisonious too. Then you see people swimming with them like idiots, and you think " Crazy D.A.", then you kinda get into it, and see there is a Beutiful side of these things.

It's like that with everything, theres a good and a bad side, you just gotta remember that and not get caught up in the moment.

The Croc guy was one of the ones who dared to ventor forward and educate us on the very dangerous and very Beutiful side of wild life. I think anyone who sat and watched him learned something, He was a great teacher.... I think thats the way he would have wanted it, remembered as a great teacher, and knowing that the knowlwdge he passed on will be in millions of minds from now on. It will also be expanded upon, he touched the hearts and minds of alot of grownup and kids, I think that will be built on by some.

Wouldn't you like to go out that way? Remembered and honored for what you gave to the minds of millions of kids?


He has the highest honor.......

Shit! I hate being wrong or out of line, but it does appear the man is in fact deceased. Didn't care much for the dude myself, but he didn't deserve to die. I still think there is more to this story than we're hearing though...let me guess,your big into conspiracy theories are you:p

I heard the news on NPR while driving to work this mornin. Talk about completely off the wall. I was sure if he died while doing something like a show or doc it would be the way of a snake bite or croc attack. But poor guy may he rest in peace. Personally I like Dr Brady Barr better but he did get the word out on conservation. RIP

h**p://www.crocodilehunter.com/ :cry: It has info on the front page.

we will miss him a lot.crivas21

such a strange way to go . for a dare devil like him.

There are pages of stories. I'm just passing on the ones I find new and interesting.

Wow you gotta feel sorry for Bindi What a horrible thing too see.

http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/crochunter/meet/slideshow/gallery/slide4_v.jpg


http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/crochunter/meet/slideshow/gallery/slide2_v.jpg


http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20356303-5005961,00.htm



Irwin death footage 'shocking'



By Dave Donaghy

September 05, 2006 09:50am


FATALLY injured by a stingray, Steve Irwin pulled its barb out of his chest before losing consciousness, dramatic footage of his last moments reveals.

Friend John Stainton said the footage of the stingray attack which took the life of the Crocodile Hunter on the Great Barrier Reef yesterday was "shocking".

Mr Irwin, 44, died after the stingray barb punctured his chest while snorkelling off Port Douglas, in far north Queensland, yesterday.

A cameraman captured the incident during filming for Irwin's new project with daughter Bindi, eight, that was to debut in the United States next year.

"I did see the footage and it's shocking," Mr Stainton said today in Cairns.

"It's a very hard thing to watch because you're actually witnessing somebody die ... and it's terrible."

Mr Stainton, also a producer and director of Irwin's popular television shows, said the footage showed Mr Irwin pulling the barb out of his chest before losing consciousness.

"It shows that Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail came up, and spiked him here (in the chest), and he pulled it out and the next minute he's gone.

"That was it. The cameraman had to shut down."

Mr Stainton, who was aboard Mr Irwin's vessel Croc One when the tragedy occurred, said it was likely the television star and naturalist died almost immediately as a result of the stingray's blow.

"(He was) probably a metre coming over the top of it," he said.

"He was underwater. I think, and the coroner's report will say what happened, but I think he died fairly instantly."

Mr Stainton said he was still in disbelief that a stingray could claim his close friend's life.

"He was always on the precipice," he said.

"He always pushed himself to the very limits but I thought he was invulnerable and I think he did too.

"I think we all had that belief that we'd pull through whatever situation we were in and he has been in some very close shaves with snakes and crocodiles.

"I would never imagine it to come from something like a stingray."



Doctor tells of treating Irwin

September 04, 2006 04:52pm


THE doctor called in to treat Steve Irwin said his death after being struck by a stingray barb was "highly unusual".

Mr Irwin died soon after being hit by the barb while he was filming a documentary at Batt Reef, near Low Isles off Port Douglas in north Queensland.

Ed O'Loughlin was aboard the Emergency Management Queensland Helicopter which was called from Cairns at 11.21am (AEST).

Dr O'Loughlin said he had worked in north Queensland for several months and in Perth before that and had not come across a death from a stingray before.

"It would be highly unusual for a stingray to cause this type of injury," Dr O'Loughlin said.

Irwin, 44, was being given CPR at Low Isles as the helicopter arrived less than one hour after the incident but Dr O'Loughlin said nothing could be done to save him.

"It became clear fairly soon that he had non-survivable injuries," Dr O'Loughlin said.

"He had a penetrating injury to the left front of his chest."

"He had lost his pulse and wasn't breathing."

Dr O'Loughlin said it appeared Mr Irwin had suffered a "form of cardiac arrest" but a post-mortem examination would be conducted in Cairns.

Dr O'Loughlin said he did not initially recognise Mr Irwin when he arrived at Low Isle.

"Not immediately, no. Everyone was very focused on the task at hand and some things you might think you'd recognise instantly are second in your mind until the task at hand is accomplished,'' he told Channel 9.

This is kinda screwed up, but typical of Google....:no:

hxxp://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/05/ebay_steve_irwin/

Another good man passes , i for one enjoyed his shows and really beleived he was a genuine animal lover. I dont know if many people know but he put the vast majority of his earnings into a zoo his family runs in Australia. I wish i could find something good in this but i can not at least he died doing what he loved god knows what we would say if it was a traffic accident that took him from us. I wish nothing but the best to his family and friends in this time of loss there will never be another crocodile hunter . What a shame Doug12342:no: :no:

Too Sad!!

great man..."will be missied"

R.I.P Irwin; atleast he went doing someyhing he liked. :( Best way to I guees

Yes, Sad story.... Loved his shows and kids loved it to... R.I.P.

He was a good man... was fun to watch !

R.I.P

I kmow its still not Sat related but so many have shown concern and interest I thought I would post this also.



Safety suit didn't fit Irwin image

By Hedley Thomas and Michael McKenna

September 09, 2006 12:00am



ON the afternoon before his final adventure, Steve Irwin sat on the aft deck of Deepstar, an aluminium catamaran moored at Batt Reef off Port Douglas, and looked wide-eyed at his host Pete West's newest purchase.

It was a modern-day suit of armour. A head-to-toe stainless steel mesh outfit, complete with full-face helmet.
The creation of a San Diego-based company specialising in marine equipment, it had been custom-made to protect its wearer from all but the most determined sea creatures.

Even tiger sharks - known to devour stingrays, serrated barb and all - would have found the sections of steel unappealing.

The wildlife guru's childlike enthusiasm - his best friend and manager, John Stainton, reckoned he had never grown up - was at once obvious.

Irwin did not hold back. He picked up the heavy and unusual-looking thing. Turning it over and feeling its smooth texture, he began asking questions.

"Crikey. How heavy is it, mate?" Irwin, 44, asked West, an expert diver-cinematographer and the owner of Deepstar. "It's 12 kilograms, Steve."

To meet Irwin was to immediately like him. His energy, over-the-top antics and interest in all he talked to were unique and completely genuine, and West was won over.

West, who had spent most of his life either in or on top of the water since working as a teenager at Marineland at Manly in Sydney, explained the suit's features. While the expensive high-definition cameras were heavy on land but virtually weightless in the water because of the buoyancy of the housing, the suit would still be a burden.

But with additional air in a buoyancy vest, West had no qualms. Its design permitted a good range of movement. It had cost him and his business, National Underwater and Marine Agency, about $7000 - a drop in the ocean if it could save a life. It was brand new, shipped from the US a few weeks earlier. At 49 and a new father for the first time, West started to explain to Irwin why he had taken an extra precaution that few underwater cinematographers had contemplated. He had taken risks on dives throughout the world - primarily on deep-sea oil rigs and for the military - before arriving at Port Douglas 15 years ago and falling back into cinematography. There had been close shaves, but now it was about doing all he could to ensure he would be around to watch his 10-month-old daughter, Taylor, grow up.

West had respected Irwin and admired his work from afar for years. Their meeting over soft drinks and snacks on the Father's Day Sunday afternoon, as Deepstar lay at anchor over the coral bommies teeming with turtles, rays and sharks, was their first.

The suit was unorthodox. West figured that some of his tough-as-teak mates, who wore just rubber and scuba tanks during close encounters with man-eaters, might have gently ribbed him.

To the man known to millions of people as the Crocodile Hunter, a seemingly fearless naturalist who wrestled reptiles and dangled venomous snakes around his neck while wearing khaki, the stainless steel mesh might have seemed a bit over the top.

Irwin's fans expected him to flirt with danger. Risk, whether real or perceived, was the most compelling part of the show and Irwin played it perfectly. He was not into mockery or gratuitous put-downs, but the lifesaving suit would never work for Irwin, despite his fears that one day, and probably in the sea where he was most vulnerable, an animal would get the better of him.

Irwin had just begun working with West and his crew on a documentary series, Ocean's Deadliest. There was mutual respect. But the banter on board was tinged with disappointment. Exchanging anecdotes about the triumphs of their children, the men would have preferred to have been at home on Father's Day.

They were on the water because deadlines had to be met. After shooting sequences in the waters at Agincourt, about 40 nautical miles northeast of Port Douglas, Irwin's vessel, Croc One, had motored south to Batt Reef. The bull rays were abundant because the shallows had plentiful food and there were fewer foreign threats - the big-hulled tourist vessels, transporting hundreds of day-trippers kitted for snorkelling, were too large to come close to the reef and the sea life.

On board Croc One were some of Irwin's closest friends and colleagues, people whose trust had been proved time and again.

The vessel's skipper, Chris Reed, dared not bring her in too close to the reef; the jagged coral deserved respect.

Apart from John Stainton, the film producer who had discovered Irwin and managed and marketed him to the world, there was Jamie Seymour, a marine biologist with a legendary passion for sea animals, and highly regarded cameramen Justin Lyons and Philippe Cousteau, the grandson of famous French ocean explorer Jacques. The crew members on Croc One and Deepstar were experienced at sea and trained in first aid.

Irwin's time in north Queensland in the days and weeks before he arrived at Batt Reef was typically adrenaline-charged: he had rolled in the mud with crocodiles in Lakefield National Park at Cape York and brushed over lethal stonefish at the reef of Agincourt.

In Port Douglas, Irwin was the natural attraction when he stepped from Croc One on to the marina - photographed and cheered by tourists from around Australia and abroad.

But the weather last weekend was lousy, dark and foreboding. The usual millpond-like conditions at Batt Reef had turned, with strong southeasterly winds creating a chop on the water and stirring up the sand in the shallows. For the high-definition cameras, visibility was soupy.

Irwin, already frustrated for a couple of days before the weekend at his inability to capture on film excitement in the water, was settling for alternatives - deadly cone shells and sea snakes - when someone mentioned Batt Reef's schools of rays. The rays are usually gentle, but their barbs can be dangerous, and footage of a large bull ray gracefully turning around the coral was better than nothing.

On Monday morning, Irwin was bursting with energy and a determination to make up for the disappointment of the previous days. Because of its deeper draft, Croc One was moored about 1km north of Deepstar.

Two of West's diving crew were in the water, checking anchors and preparing for the afternoon shoot, while he and marine biologist friend Teresa Carrette stayed on board. They could see the white inflatable dinghy from Croc One about 500m away; the tide was turning as Irwin, snorkelling in his khakis, shadowed a medium-large ray while Lyons filmed.

Suddenly the dinghy was racing towards Deepstar at full speed, and instinctively West knew something was amiss. The inflatable bumped into the starboard quarter and Lyons yelled: "Steve's been hit by a stingray!".

The predicament was dire. Irwin, lying in the inflatable, was not moving. There was an obvious wound to his chest and at first glance it looked dangerously close to his heart. He had a reputation as the guru of high drama and edge-of-your-seat TV, but this take was not part of the script.

The underwater camera lay on the floor of the dinghy. Lyons, who filmed the strike but did not realise exactly what had happened until he saw blood in the water, appeared gravely worried.

On Croc One, most of the crew remained oblivious to the crisis. West, who had been a medic on oil rigs, summed it up quickly. If it had been a gash to the foot or some such injury, Irwin would have been pulled on board and given professional first aid but the volume of blood around his chest looked serious. He told Lyons to speed to Croc One and Seymour.

As the inflatable sped off, the first radio call went out. The Port Douglas Coast Guard did not respond on the emergency VHF channel 16, so West called for the next nearest. "Coast Guard Cairns. Coast Guard Cairns. This is Deepstar. We are in need of immediate medical assistance."

In the conversation with the radio operator in Cairns, no names were used at first. But on Croc One, the skipper, Reed, heard the plea for help. The inflatable was seconds away from Irwin's 20m vessel and the crew readied for action.

After Cairns Coast Guard switched to channel 73, so the situation could be discussed without interruption from others on the water who had heard the first distress call, Seymour, who had been monitoring the conversation and had assessed Irwin's critical condition, came on the radio. He upgraded the alert and asked for an emergency evacuation.

Stainton would later reveal he believed Irwin was already dead, but nobody was prepared to give up hope. There was a frantic but well-organised drill as the crew took it in turns to try revive him. Although Croc One was in deeper water at Batt Reef, it still had to proceed with caution around the coral until the throttles could be pushed fully forward. But the next radio call was grave. Seymour wanted to know if West had a defibrillator on board. Negative. He had plenty of oxygen, but nothing to restart a heart. The question had said it all.

All the way into Low Isles -- the closest shelter and heliport between Batt Reef and Port Douglas -- the crew on Croc One kept trying. They had abandoned the inflatable and another dinghy, the Black Pearl, both of which West recovered. "How is Steve doing?" West asked after receiving a call from Lyons to ask if the camera had been retrieved.

"He's in the hands of professionals," Lyons replied.

Having been asked to secure the camera and ensure its tape had not malfunctioned, West hit the playback button and he and Teresa Carrette watched the last few seconds on the small view-finder. As Stainton disclosed later, the footage was graphic and shocking. West watched a medium-wide shot of Irwin paddling above a 1m-wide bull ray, which suddenly whipped its tail and barb into his chest.

"When I saw the film it explained exactly what had happened," West told The Weekend Australian yesterday.

"I had feared already that Steve was dead. The facts are we lost a great Australian in a tragic accident. Like everybody else in this country, I didn't know what a treasure we had until we lost it.

"The simple things kill. And it happens too quickly."