The world is marking 20 years since the death of Steve Irwin, with his longtime cameraman sharing an emotional account of the day itself, and his children paying tribute to his lasting legacy.
What happened
Irwin died on 4 September 2006, aged 44, after being fatally injured by a stingray while filming underwater at the Great Barrier Reef. He left behind his wife of 14 years, Terri, and their two children, Robert and Bindi, who were two and eight years old at the time.
The cameraman's account
Irwin's longtime cameraman and producer, Justin Lyons, appeared in a new documentary special, Steve Irwin: A Wild Life, released this week, describing the events of that day. He recalled the crew had been filming off Far North Queensland's Batt Reef, targeting tiger sharks, when they spotted a bull ray they'd filmed safely many times before while waiting for the sharks to arrive.
Lyons described Irwin swimming directly over the ray, which reacted defensively as though it perceived him as a predator, striking upward with its tail. He said the water became too chaotic to see clearly until it calmed, at which point Irwin surfaced with the water around him full of blood.
Lyons said Irwin told him he'd been dying, looking him directly in the eye as he said it. The crew performed CPR for 45 minutes while racing the boat to Low Island for help, but Irwin was declared dead shortly after paramedics arrived.
Lyons described the aftermath as complete despair, saying his entire world changed in that moment and was never the same again.
Tributes from his children
Robert Irwin, now 22, shared a simple tribute on Instagram alongside a childhood photo with his father, writing that his legacy is forever. Bindi, now 28, shared a longer message reflecting on the grief her family has carried for two decades, saying that while she once believed her father's legacy was wildlife conservation, she's come to see it as something broader rooted in love. She spoke about her own five-year-old daughter, who watches Irwin's documentaries daily despite never having met him, saying she feels loved by her grandfather all the same.
