Cameraman details Steve Irwin death, “We thought he would live forever.”
The cameraman who filmed the death of Steve Irwin has detailed the story for the first time, to Studio 10.
- Published by David Knox
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Justin Lyons, the cameraman who filmed the 2006 death of Steve Irwin has detailed the story publicly for the first time, speaking to Studio 10.
He told the TEN programme a large stingray pierced Irwin with its tail “hundreds of times”, possibly mistaking his shadow for a shark.
Initially he had not realised the stingray had attacked Irwin.
“He had a two-inch-wide injury over his heart with blood and fluid coming out of it and we had to get him back to the boat as fast as we can,” Lyons said.
“He obviously didn’t know it had punctured his heart … even if we had got him into an emergency ward at that moment we probably we wouldn’t have been able to save him.
“I was saying to him things like ‘think of your kids Steve, hang on, hang on, hang on’, and he calmly looked up at me and said ‘I’m dying’ and that was the last thing he said.”
“We thought he was going to live forever,” says Lyons.
While Lyons was a friend and business partner to Irwin, it’s unclear if Terri Irwin has lent her support to the interview proceeding.
Lyons now has a new documentary E-Motion, which explores how science and alternative medicines are combatting emotional trauma.
Footage of the Irwin attack has never been released.
“I don’t know what’s happened to it, but hopefully it will never see the light of day.”
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4 Responses
I saw part of this on the news yesterday.
I can’t help wondering ‘Why?’
Why did he feel the need to publicly talk about this now?
Surely, it should be only discussed privately with the family. Not on national television!
I’m taking nothing away from the sadness,
and we lost a great man.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Also had some concerns. Note that he promoted a new doco. I only hope Terri Irwin had given her approval, given there are still children involved.
I found it quite emotional and very sad. It was good that Ita and Jess let him speak without constantly interrupting, and in the case of Jessica, that awful snorting noise she makes all the time, its so off putting.
I wondered what Steve’s family thought about the interview?
It was an interesting interview. Details that have never been shared before as far as i know. I sometimes wonder at how many people would secretly liked to have seen the footage.