Steve Irwin video may never been seen by public
Steve Irwin's death Monday came as a shock to many people and since then the world has mourned his loss. He died after a stingray barb punctured his chest during the filming of an underwater documentary off Australia's Queensland coast.
To some, his death came as no surprise given his risky lifestyle and how he seemed to thrive off bringing some of the world's most dangerous animals to people's homes worldwide via television.
Irwin was once questioned about what should happen if he was in a life-threatening situation while filming. Irwin told his camera crew they should continue filming "even if I am eaten by a shark or croc." He said he would be sad if no one got it on tape.
Monday's incident was caught on tape. John Stainton, Irwin's producer and friend, viewed the tape on Irwin's death before handing it over to police. "It's a very hard thing to watch because you're actually witnessing somebody die and it's terrible," Stainton said. He continued to say that the tape "shows that Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail came up and spiked him here [in the chest] and he pulled it out and the next minute he's gone. That was it - the cameraman had to shut down."
It now seems increasingly unlikely footage of the tragic event will ever reach the public's eyes. Stainton told CNN that the tape is presently in police custody and should be destroyed.
"It should be destroyed," Stainton said. "When that (tape) is finally released it will never see the light of day, ever.
"I actually saw it and I don't want to see it again," he said.
Arguably, Steve Irwin's contribution to world was to raise public awareness to many of the world's animals and the struggles they face. He achieved this through sometimes shocking visual media being delivered via television to millions of homes on a weekly basis. Now it seems the final shocking and tragic moments of his life may never be seen.
Source:
www.ogrish.com
