I feel sad that one of my favorite TV personalities, Steve Irwin, died today. He is such an affable character. I love his enthusiasm for life and his deep regard for the environment.
Here’s the Associated Press story at MSN:
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.
Makes us stop a while and mull on so many things….
on LIFE and our very existence…..
One does not know when and where we will be ‘called’.
He is way too young for that!
Renowned Superman also met an accident which rendered him paralyzed…. It behooves everyone to be careful and take caution whenever necessary.
BAKIT nga ba ang mga matinong tao, kinukuha agad?
Samantalang itong inaayawan, nandito pa rin at nagre-reyna-reynahan?
Sana kunin na ni Lord ang mga gahaman, sakim, talipandas at mga sinungaling sa gobyerno namin. Amen.
You are right. Happenings like this remind us of the temporariness of life and that all material things that we have accummulated would be irrelevant the moment we are gone.
It reminds us to regard every day as a gift that could be the last.
oh no!
He was a favorite of mine, too. He will be missed!
You bet, Ellen, Cory by the Sea! When my brother died at age 33, I asked the same question especially when he was the handsomest of my brothers and most loving to our parents.
I found the answer in Ecclesiastes: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. • • •He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. • • • I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. (Eccl. 3: 1-8, 11, 17)
For Steve, it is his time to go. It is also for some special reason that God sometimes allow some souls to linger to fulfill their purpose in this world. On the other hand, I doubt if the Ale Boba is fulfilling the will of God. More likely, she is hastening the work of the devil whose work is to deceive and ensnare.
Here’s another one from Yahoo!® News
Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin killed
1 hour, 22 minutes ago
The Associated Press
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.
taipan88,
talagang ganyan ang buhay ng pinakamasamang damo sa balat ng lupa, kahit ano’ng gawin nating pagsugpo, talo pa ang may libong buhay. iisa lang ang makapagpapasya sa mga tinamaan ng gulang ng mga yan, yung dinidiyos nilang diyablo! pasasaan ba at magsasawa din si lucifer sa kanila dahil matatakot na baka agawan siya ng trono! sana nga.
Mrivera,
Di ba nga….sana hwag nang mag-siesta si Lord at bulyawan na Niya si galema….SOBRA na, eh!
ystakei-san:
Your bro was too young to die! But he may be in Better Abode than here with gloria sucking the life blood of the Filipino!
My brother died in the USA. Laking America. Still, nakakahinayang because he was in the prime of his life. Pogi na mabait pa. Richard Gere type ang mukha. Heart attack kaya mas masakit because he did not know how ill he was!
..kinikilabutan naman ako..we will surely miss this heck of a fella…and yuko..pareho pala tayo…my brother(the fifth in our family of 12!) died at age 33 due to cardiac arrest..the sad thing is hindi ko na sya n aabutan..kami ang parehong panganay. i am the oldest and he is the oldest boy, madalas syang stay over the weekend dito sa amin sa makati cz sa manila ang parents ko. my single siblings stay w our parents kc my dad(d)was a stroke victim and my mom(d) naman stroke but na coma n when she woke up she was totally immobile na din…my bro was very masipag, thoughtful, creative, artistic(artist kc),he is the one to care for my parents since wala na ako sa house namin..hw was DOA na sa ER but na revive lang ang vital signs but no brain wave. coma for 4 days..pagkababa ko nang airport diretso ako sa ICCU and kept talking to him kahit nakapikit sya..alam nya, lumuluha sya and it was enough for us to tell him na its alright kung ano ang mas makakabuti sa kanya…we will all accept… hindi na nya nakita ang pasalubong kong book frm Paris. Hand-carry ko pa ang 2 books na yun kc ayaw kong mayupi manlang…every1 says he looks like jose rizal sa graduation pic nya which we place inside his ash-niche sa manila mem’l…
life is too short my frends..very short to be wasted…that is why we really have to fight while we are still breathing..fight for a just cause kahit hinayupak na mandaraya ang kalaban natin…pwede natin ipagdasal ang mga kampon ng kadiliman..baka sakaling maglaho sila ng parang bula…
life is strange. those who have a mission in life die too early while those who do not even have principles leave happily ever after. ang masamang damo daw ay mahirap ….
norpil..the good die young kung baga as they say…i dnt mean naman my bro is good or a saint but he is a very friendly giving person…others first before himself. good thing my bro was a bachelor.ang masamang damo ay mahirap masugpo..as in weeds are harder to kill bec they are like pests!!!
pests in the likes of the dorobo family and their legion of thieves!!!
It’s very sad indeed…he was about to fulfill his last mission…catching the biggest crocodile(s) in the world…the ones in Malacanang. Who shall now take his place to accomplish this mission?
Steve. You drew our hearts and minds to the innocence and beauty of even the most dangerous and fatal creatures on this planet, providing us a brief and very welcome respite from far greater dangers we face from the malice and evil in our fellow human beings.
Crikey. Spectacular in life, spectacular in death. As it is, I believe you would not want it any other way.
My prayers for you, Steve, mate, and my sincere condolences to the bereaved.
Enjoy that big wildlife preserve up there in the sky.
Soleil,
Siguro kailangan pang maghirap ang mga pilipino kaya hindi pa namamatay si Ale Boba. Dadating din ang oras niyan. Sabi nga, she will reap what she has planted.
Grabe ang hangin sa ulo ng kumag. I don’t know how people back home can bear watching this crook when she speaks with her bucked teeth. Ang grabe ng pagkahambog!
Beautiful message, xenon.
kelan kaya naman magkakaroon ng article na “goodbye hunted crocodiles?”
naglipana sila sa loob ng malakanyang, kongreso, senado, sa crame, sa camp aguinaldo, sa fort bonifacio at kahit saang kanto.
Thank you, Ellen. Steve just had that exuberant innocence and enthusiasm for his work that we need to see so badly in our people. I saw that in a lot of Filipinos around me when I was growing up. Nowadays….
soleil posting on September 4th, 2006 at 9:47 pm :
“diretso ako sa ICCU and kept talking to him kahit nakapikit sya..alam nya, lumuluha sya and it was enough for us to tell him na its alright kung ano ang mas makakabuti sa kanya…”
It reminds me of my uncle(mas matandang kapatid ng tatay ko), na ganon din nangyari , comatose pero lumuluha. Totoo pala yun na nakakarinig pa ang comatose.
Ito kasing Tatay at Uncle ko ang mga unang naglakas loob noong 50’s na lumuwas ng Maynila(both of my parents Ellen are from Panay). Sinalo sila dito sa Maynila ng Ate nila at napadpad sa Sta.Mesa.
Nagtalo pa nga ang Tatay at Kuya ko kung papaano mare-revive pa ang buhay ng Uncle namin.
“hindi na nya nakita ang pasalubong kong book frm Paris”
It reminds me of my Kuya, he used to buy me books about history.
Whenever I read stories about the ‘Zumel brothers’ , I remember my Kuya and I arquing in politics and literature during Cory’s time(late 80’s).
anyway, magbalik tayo dun kay Steve, dapat dito ang title ng story niya ay “Crocodile Hunter Meet His Match”
i just read that steve’s death which was fully filmed will never be shown and that his father has refused a state funeral which was offered as a recognition of his work. i wonder if gma will be offered a state funeral just in case. sorry for the comparison but sometimes even news of people one donot even know personally can make us depressed.
Are there crocodiles in Pasig River? GMA could do ala-Steve Irwin. GMA could fake her death; have a fake funeral. Even in her death, many won’t believe her anymore. To make sure that she’s dead, we must be the ones to kill her!
crocodiles do not thrive now in water. they became civilized and changed their way of life.
Mrivera..marami sa edsa ng crocodiles..and also around metromanila…iba-iba pa ang kulay…at nag-te-txt pa!…si pandak bruha, isusuka ng totoong crocodile yan..sa kunat ng balat at pait ng dugo nyan…malalason ang hayop na lalapa sa kanya, lalo na si fatguy…re Steve Irwin’s father’s preferred funeral..yan ang masasabi mong tao na may dignity..kasi a funeral is really a sacred thing..kung pwede talaga ay immediate family lang kc very personal ito..wala tayong magagawa kung ang personality will be in the likes of FPJ or Erap or Ninoy…with pandak bruha..am sure mga bayaran ang mag-iiyakan dyan parang yung sa crying ladies na bayaran sa funeraria paz sa manila noong unang panahon.
nelbar…i had experience many death in the family and it is really draining..when faced with comatose or brain dead situation, the family learned that we let God’s miracle take over not the machine’s..i knw i am courting reactions with this sentence, but kahit ako, nagbilin na ako na i dotn want to be revived if ever i will be in coma or brain dead…kung tuloy ang paghinga ko pag-alis ng ventilator, that is God’s will but if i fade away, that is God’s plan…there is more to the reason of morality when it comes to caring for our loved ones who are not in the position to convey what they want or how they want to continue if something grave happens…but like my father-inlaw who passed away due to ALS, he was brave to knw what he really wanted…believe me, it will be for the sanity of those who will be left behind…
i also had experienced many death in the family soleil, but maybe luckier(?). my mother died when i was child that i did not appreciate her so much until my father married again. my father died after some time in a hospital when i am already in norway, so that i did not see his suffering. today i can remember them both the way they were which make me feel lucky.
norpil…i believe u..i remmber my bro always smiling…funny but my kids say we seems to sound alike when we laugh…as to my parents, thats the sad part..i always remmber them in pain n misery…the worst was they were very well and able bodied people way back…thats why now, at this age of nearly going golden…i am trying my best to keep myself well as my kids are still young…i do yoga almost eveyrday, veg and lean meat if cant be avoided, fruits, natural supplements and smiling a lot..even when i am writing the gruesome name of pandak bruha, i make a mental image of this bastard family looking like caricatures so that i will not make my blood boil..
thanks for the share norpil, nelbar