Who is Steve Irwin

A Passionate, Enthusiastic Conservationist

If there's one thing
I would want to be remembered for
it's passion and enthusiasm.

Conservation is my joy,
my life,
my whole being.

Steve Irwin

Photo Source:
Paul Williams. Steve Irwin. Creative Commons. Some Rights Reserved.

I'd love to live until I'm 80.
I want to see my daughter grow up; I want to love my wife.

I hope I live a long and healthy life; but if I don't, I've had such a wonderful, fulfilled life and I get what a lot of other people don't get, which is to educate people about conservation.

There's my reason for living, my passion. This is why God created me.

Steve Irwin

In reading this quote, it almost seems that somehow he knew he wouldn't be living until 80 years.

Sometimes I'll wake up and don't want to even get out of bed. But I get up and get dressed for my kids, for the people I work with, for the legacy that Steve's left.

I think if our roles had been reversed - if Steve was talking to you now and I was an angel watching over my children - I would want to see him being happy and having fun, and living and loving and laughing again.

But I have to practice it - it doesn't just come [to] me.

Terri Irwin

I believe that education is all about being excited about something.

Seeing passion and enthusiasm helps push an educational message.

Steve Irwin

Rumors of Steve Irwin's death had been circulating the Internet since at least 2001, possibly earlier. Irwin had been denying the rumor of his demise for years.

He'd written on his Discovery.com site FAQ's that

I've never been bitten by a venomous snake, and I recently heard that I'd been killed. Ha ha! I've been killed by crocodiles, venomous snakes, spiders. I've even had a beetle crawl in my ear and kill me once. Nah! I'm here to tell you Steve Irwin lives!

Unfortunately, on September 4, 2006 those rumors came true.

Steve Irwin, 44 died of injuries sustained from a stingray wound while filming off north Queensland, Australia. The actual stingray attack was caught on film, which was later destroyed by the family.

Ironically the documentary being filmed was for a segment for a series Ocean's Deadliest.

The spirit of Steve Irwin lives on in many ways.

I again pay tribute to his energy, joy and commitment to conservation and wildlife, and acknowledge all those who continue his work today.

Premier Peter Beattie
Remarks to the Australian State Parliament

I'm trying to picture it...but I can't picture him dying.

He's like more than Superman.

Michael, Kelly Ripa's Son

For many children the death of the Crocodile Hunter is a significant loss-equivalent to the loss of a family member, or Superman. For Kelly Ripa's 9-year-old son Michael and Rosie O'Donnell's 6-year-old son it's as though Superman has died. For my daughters (6 and 4) it is as though one of the Wiggles, Elmo, Dora the Explorer or Raven-Symone had died. With the death of Steve Irwin children are experiencing the death of a friend and for many the death of someone the admired and desired to emulate--a hero.

Children Grieving the Loss Tears for a Friend
Children around the world are grieving the loss of the Crocodile Hunter, as they would grieve the loss of a family member. Counselors are telling parents to be taking their children's grief seriously. Many believe that Steve Irwin's death will impact children, much the way that the deaths of John F. Kennedy, Princess Diana and now Steve Irwin affected their parents.

Parents like Kelly Ripa and Rosie O'Donnell, struggled to explain the death of this beloved friend and television personality to their kids. He was known throughout the world for his bubbly enthusiasm and as a crocodile-wrestling big kid.

It not surprisingly Steve's death has had a devastating affect on Australian school children; it may be a bit more surprising of the impact of children around the world as well.

The affect of Steve Irwin's death on children has been even more difficult because children identified with his own child-like enthusiasm for life. According to Psychologist Grant Brecht, "Education would be very easy if all the children acted like Steve Irwin, diving into this and that to find out what makes life tick."

Talking to Your Children about Death
Perhaps one of the educator Steve Irwin's greatest legacies will be that in his death, parents were presented with a rare teachable moment* a unique opportunity to explain the death of one of their friends to our children.

* A teachable moment is a moment of educational opportunity: a time at which a person, especially a child, is likely to be particularly disposed to learn something or particularly responsive to being taught or made aware of something.

Helping Children Cope
Australian television offered some helpful tips from experts on helping children cope with this sudden, unexpected death of a friend.

Psychiatrist Dr Louise Newman advised parents to answer their children's questions, "Provide just enough information for the children to have an understanding of what occurred." Furthermore,"Very young children might be frightened about the story of stingrays and may need reassurance." Older children may need more information.

Psychologist Grant Brecht recommended that parents and teachers be careful when trying to help children understand what happened to the Crocodile Hunter.

Parents may find that children are waking up in the night having fears of dying or having fears of being attacked by snakes or crocodiles. His passing will bring into being for them some of their own fallibility because they would have thought that he could live forever.

Source: Dyer K. September 10, 2006. Talking to a Child about the Death of Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin ~ A Teachable Moment. dying.about.com blog.

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Doesn't that feel good?