Kevin's Watch

Irwin Tape 'Must Be Destroyed'

Sydney - A tape showing the death of Australian Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, who was killed by a stingray in waters off the coast of northern Australia, should never be shown, his manager said on Wednesday.

"It should be destroyed," John Stainton said of the recording of Irwin's death on Monday off the Great Barrier Reef when the barb of a stingray punctured his heart.

"At the moment, it's in police custody for evidence, there's a coroner's inquest taking place at the moment, and when that (tape) is finally released it will never see the light of day, ever," Stainton said on CNN's Larry King Live.

'A hard experience'

"I actually saw it and I don't want to see it again," he said.

"I had to watch it because I wanted to make sure what was on that tape that was going to the police, we had to watch it to sign off on it.

"It was a hard experience," Stainton said.

He did not give details of what the tape showed.

Irwin, 44, whose daring face-to-face confrontations with all manner of deadly crocodiles, snakes and spiders made him a global media phenomenon, plucked the barb from his chest before collapsing and dying, Stainton said.

Filming documentary

He said the incident took place off Port Douglas, on the far northern coast of Australia, while Irwin was filming a documentary for the Discovery Channel called Ocean's Deadliest.

He said he believed Irwin was dead before he was flown by helicopter back to the mainland for emergency medical treatment.

"We spent the next 50 minutes or more on CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) trying to keep him alive," Stainton said, adding: "I don't think he was alive."

The Discovery Channel, watched by more than 200 million people around the world, said the footage of Irwin's death may never be aired.

[u][b]CNN.com[/b][/u] wrote:Storm breaks over attack on Irwin
POSTED: 5:36 a.m. EDT, September 7, 2006

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Comments by academic Germaine Greer on the death of wildlife TV star Steve Irwin have triggered a storm of anger with the Australian author criticized for being "insensitive" and "elitist."

Greer, best known for her feminist book "The Female Eunuch", said Wednesday Irwin was an "embarrassment" and a "self-deluded animal torturer."

Irwin, who gained international fame for his "Crocodile Hunter" TV series, was killed Monday by a stingray barb while filming a wildlife documentary.

Speaking on Australian TV Channel Nine's "A Current Affair" news program Wednesday, Greer described those who mourned Irwin's passing as "idiots" and said possibly millions of Australians were embarrassed by him.

Greer said Irwin had not treated animals with the respect they deserved.

"He would tell you how dangerous they were and he would proceed to intrude on their space and humiliate (them) really -- treat them with massive insensitivity," she said. "It's no surprise he came to grief."

Greer's views, first aired in Britain's Guardian newspaper on Tuesday, have drawn a sharp response in Australia from politicians and commentators.

Queensland state leader Peter Beattie told Greer to "back off" and labeled her comments "stupid" and "insensitive."

"Germaine Greer is just wrong and I just can't imagine anyone being more insensitive and, frankly, stupid," he said Thursday.

"This argument is just extreme radical rubbish from Germaine Greer and it couldn't come at a more insensitive time.

"Any suggestion that he (Irwin) mistreated animals is just rubbish ... he educated a generation."

Author John Birmingham, writing in The Australian newspaper Thursday, called Greer's comments "a poisonous discharge of bile" which encapsulated the views of a "whole class of Australian sophisticates" who felt uncomfortable with Irwin's global celebrity.

Greer is a frequent critic of personalities like British soccer star David Beckham and social trends like reality television, although she herself appeared briefly in Britain's Celebrity Big Brother series.

...

The Discovery Channel, watched by more than 200 million people around the world, said the footage of Irwin's death may never be aired.

Alynna Lis Eachann wrote:.... Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I sure as hell wouldn't want my death aired on international tv.

Cail wrote:From what it sounds like though, he wasn't "in action". Every account of his death seems like a freak accident.

Creator wrote:

Cail wrote:From what it sounds like though, he wasn't "in action". Every account of his death seems like a freak accident.

Swimming underwater playing with stingrays would be 'action' for ME!!

Xar wrote:... he actually was trying to shoot some scenes for a children's show, ....

Cail wrote:Meh, I guess so. Still, it wasn't as if he was teasing the rays.....

Xar wrote:

Creator wrote:

Cail wrote:From what it sounds like though, he wasn't "in action". Every account of his death seems like a freak accident.

Swimming underwater playing with stingrays would be 'action' for ME!!

He wasn't playing with stingrays... he actually was trying to shoot some scenes for a children's show, and the stingray just happened to be buried beneath the sand where he passed... also, stingray stings, while poisonous, don't usually kill people, only hurt like hell; in Irwin's case, though, the serrated edge of the sting pierced his heart, so he died almost instantly. This definitely sounds like a freak accident...