• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Mystery of video of Steve Irwin's death which caught his final moments on camera

Home> News

Updated 15:24 5 Sep 2022 GMT+1Published 09:14 5 Sep 2022 GMT+1

Mystery of video of Steve Irwin's death which caught his final moments on camera

His biographer has revealed that Irwin told his camera crew to 'always be filming'

Shola Lee

Shola Lee

Steve Irwin's biographer Tommy Donovan has revealed the wildlife conservationist's tragic death was caught on tape.

Yesterday (4 September) was the 16th anniversary of the famous Crocodile Hunter's death.

As heartfelt messages poured in for the beloved Aussie, the location of this tape has remained a mystery.

This year is the 16th anniversary of Steve Irwin's death.
PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo

Advert

Irwin was killed by a stingray just off Australia's Great barrier reef in 2006. He was attempting to capture footage of a normally harmless stingray when disaster struck.

As the animal lover went near the creature, it raised its tail and stabbed him.

Which, as Donovan explained, was all caught on tape.

Why? Well, Steve had a rule: "He tells his camera crew to always be filming."

The biographer continued: "If he needs help he will ask for it. Even if he is eaten by a shark or croc, the main thing he wants is that it be filmed. If he died he would be sad if no one got it on tape."


Advert

And that's what happened after his cameraman Justin Lyons caught the attack on camera, at first not realising the severity of the situation.

The pair had been trying to gather footage for his daughter's TV show, Bindi the Jungle Girl.

"It should have been an innocent encounter for a TV show aimed at children," John Stainton, the director of the show, explained.

When Lyons got him back onto the boat, Irwin 'was having trouble breathing'.

He said: "Even if we'd been able to get him into an emergency ward at that moment we probably wouldn't have been able to save him because the damage to his heart was massive.

Advert

Steve's family haven't seen the tape.
REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo

"As we're motoring back I'm screaming at one of the other crew in the boat to put their hand over the wound and we're saying to him things like, 'Think of your kids, Steve, hang on, hang on, hang on."

Unfortunately, Irwin succumbed to his injuries, with the entire attack, Lyon and the paramedic's attempts to save him all caught on camera.

The tape was then passed on to authorities to aid their investigations.

Once returned, Discovery Communications, the network that propelled Irwin's career, said that the footage would 'never see the light of day'.

Advert

Stainton, who was a close friend of Irwin's, then went to say that 'it should be destroyed'.

"When that is finally released [after investigations], it will never see the light of day. Ever. Ever. I actually saw it, but I don't want to see it again," he told Larry King Live.

All copies of the tape were destroyed following investigations, except one - that copy was reportedly given to Irwin's wife, Terri who is said to have destroyed the tape without watching it.

Featured Image Credit: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo SWNS

Topics: News, Steve Irwin, Animals, World News

Shola Lee
Shola Lee

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Man who suffered 'most brutal silent death in history' made incredible act in his final moments to save others
  • Woman unknowingly captures final moments of her fiancé who died while proposing to her underwater
  • Chilling final words of death row’s oldest inmate seconds before his execution
  • Heartbreaking final words of man who drowned after proposing to his girlfriend underwater

Choose your content:

2 hours ago
4 hours ago
21 hours ago
  • 2 hours ago

    Woman who can remember everything that happens in her life shares awful downside of the ability

    Apparently, only around 0.00001% of the world's population can do it

    News
  • 4 hours ago

    Psychologists have found that one flirting technique works ‘almost every time’ for men and women

    You're welcome, everyone

    News
  • 4 hours ago

    Man diagnosed with colon cancer gives warning over Mounjaro hiding symptoms of disease

    He made it incredibly clear that he doesn't blame the drug

    News
  • 21 hours ago

    Major DB Cooper update as FBI releases 400 pages of classified documents on rogue skyjacker

    Almost 400 pages of DB Cooper documents show how the FBI just could not find this guy

    News