It's one year tomorrow since the death of Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter. What a sad time! I think that everyone I know will always remember the exact place they were at the moment they heard that he had passed. For me, it was at work - a little after 3 in the afternoon. I had a person waiting to talk to me, sort of hanging around. I asked her if she wanted something and she just looked at me strangely and said, "I didn't think that you would know yet.....Steve Irwin is dead! It was a stingray." The seconds after are a bit blurry, but I think it's best described as an invisible wall of shock that hit me in the face. I remember calling out to a co-worker and asking her if she'd heard (she hadn't). Together we raced to the computer to do a google search, part of me hoping that it had all been a big mistake. How could someone who wrestled crocodiles for a living be killed by a stingray?! Sadly, the rest is history but I do remember at the time that only one news site on the internet had picked up on the story. I just kept refreshing the page, watching as other sites quickly followed and the incredible became a reality.
Many times over this period it was easy to ask what it was about this man that had a nation - probably the world - showing such public displays of grief. What was it about him that touched everyone of us? Certainly, he was incredible. He believed in something so strongly and was so passionate about his wildlife cause in a way that was infectious. He was brave, too. No way would I be jumping on the back potentially man-eating crocodiles and then describing how beautiful they were! And he was real- there was no whispering about wildlife from a safe viewing distance. He was up there and in your face when he presented. And on top of everything else, he was a great husband and dad! He was always with his kids. He was always talking about his family. And his family's actions and reactions over the last year are testimony to what a great family man he was.
But for me, the most amazing part of Steve Irwin was that he was genuine. I, like many other Queenslanders, had visited Australia Zoo. And I, like many other people, had seen Steve there. Not presenting (unfortunately) on that particular day, but riding his trail bike around the back of a building....checking out some new development that was going on. And like many before me I waved and thought how amazing it was that although he was famous he still did ordinary things like that. He really was an ordinary bloke who had an amazing zest for life and was a good guy to the core!
I think the hardest thing for me, in the days following Steve's death, was watching the reaction of children, grappling to understand how their hero could have so easily been taken from them. Kids like my own who grew up watching The Crocodile Hunter in action; kids who he taught to not fear dangerous animals but to respect them. And living within a short drive to Australia Zoo meant that most children I know had been there....many of them had seen him in real life.
We watched some of the television special on the weekend presented by Bindi Irwin. My 7 year old, upon seeing Bindi do her special rap for her dad at the end of the show, turned to me and said, "He would be really proud of her". I agreed. She was thoughtful for a minute and then said, "You know what mummy, I really miss him"!
And you know what....so do I! The world still has a big hole in it that Steve left!
Pictures takenby us at Australia Zoo in the weeks following Steve's death
