Steve Irwin "The Crocodile Hunter" Dies

No one saw it coming. Nobody was prepared for what happened.

Early in the afternoon of September 4th, 2006, at about 11am, Steve Irwin, also known as "The Crocodile Hunter" was killed while diving near Port Douglas, in Queensland by a stingray. According to witnesses and the video footage that was kept, the Croc Hunter was snorkling near the surface when he spotted a stingray. He swam over to investigate and eventually swam into a position such that he was directly over the stingray. At that point, it reared and stuck its poisonous, barbed 20-cm tail directly into Steve's chest. As it turns out, it penetrated directly into his heart. As a reflex, the Croc Hunter grabbed the other end (no longer attatched to the stingray) and pulled it out of his now bleeding chest. Because the tail was barbed, instead of being a smooth, round tail, the tail of this creature has tiny little mini-spikes that stick backwards out of the tail, much like a fishing hook. Instictivly, the Croc Hunter pulled this barbed tail out of his heart, which some people say may have caused more damage than the actual stab.
It is human nature that once you realize that you have been stabbed, you grab the knife (or whatever stabbed you) and pull it out. this is not neccesarily the best way to handle a major wound of that type. When you pull something out of a wound like this, it will open up the would and all of the blood will spill out of the opening. (not a good thing!) Believe it or not, after you have been stabbed, LEAVE THE KNIFE IN! This was (as some people believe) the Croc Hunter's big mistake. Not only did removing the tail allow blood to flow from his heart, but the barbs on the tail also basically ripped the wound apart, which would obviously cause major damage to any organ. However, some argue that because the tail was slightly poisonus, pulling it out was the best possible way to handle the situation.

Either way, Steve Irwin A.K.A. the "Crocodile Hunter" was a very interesting person who many loved and his death will be greatly greived my many.