Terri Irwin says video of Crocodile Hunter's last moments will never air
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 | 12:32 PM ET
CBC Arts
Terri Irwin, widow of Australian conservationist and Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, says video of her husband's death will never be aired on television.
Speaking publicly for the first time since Steve was killed by a barb from a stingray, Terri Irwin looked back fondly on her 14-year marriage in an interview on Australia's Channel Nine.
Irwin was emphatic that the footage of his death Sept. 4 while diving in northeastern Australia would never be broadcast.
Terri Irwin, wife of Australian environmentalist and television personality Steve Irwin with daughter, Bindi, and son, Bob, at a memorial service for her husband at Australia Zoo last week.
(Steve Holland/Associated Press)
"It won't be. No. No. What purpose would that serve?" she said, adding that she had not looked at the footage herself.
Irwin, 44, died minutes after a stingray's barb pierced his chest while he filmed a TV show on the Great Barrier Reef.
His death prompted an unprecedented outpouring of grief in Australia, including tributes by ordinary Australians outside the Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland, which Irwin ran with his father.
Terri Irwin told TV interviewers that her husband always felt he would die early, but believed that he would be killed in a car wreck or accident of some kind.
His Crocodile Hunter TV series, in which he picked up snakes and manhandled crocodiles, demonstrated his uncanny way with animals, and both of them thought him safe, she said.
"I never thought it would be an animal, he never thought it would be an animal," Irwin said.
"I thought he would fall out of a tree, he thought it would be a car accident."
Irwin choked back tears as she recounted her grief and how she is trying to cope for their two children, eight-year-old Bindi and two-year-old Bob.
"He'll walk with me, and certainly with the children, forever," she said.
She said she was particularly proud of Bindi, for being able to deliver a moving tribute to her father at a memorial service held last week at the Australia Zoo and broadcast around the world.
"Part of me wishes that we had just another 10 years with the kids, but part of me is grateful we didn't have 10 less years, because I wouldn't have my kids," she said. "I'm so grateful because they are so much like him, and I have to be strong for them."
Footage on Wednesday's show showed Irwin walking for the first time outside the front of Australia Zoo to look at the mass of flowers, toys and tributes laid out at the front gate by thousands of well-wishers.
Irwin thanked Australians for their often "overwhelming" support, saying she was very glad that Steve reached so many people and got the message out.
"[Steve] touched so many lives, and now we have to continue this and go and tell people, 'go home and hug your kids and appreciate each other more,' " she said.
"Life is short, and we have to treasure each and every person, because Steve was just a regular guy, he always thought of himself as a regular Australian bloke.
"And gee, there's no one more proud to be Australian than Steve."
With files from Australian Broadcasting Corp.
