Terri Irwin: Footage of Steve's Death Won't Air
"No. No. What purpose would that serve," Terri Irwin tells ABC in a segment set to air Wednesday, adding that she has never watched the tape, either. "It was an accident so stupid. It was like running with a pencil. It was not risk he was taking. It was just an accident." Irwin, 44, was killed Sept. 4 while filming a documentary near Australia's Great Barrier Reef when he was stung in the heart by a stingray. Wildlife experts have called the TV star and conservationist's death a "freak accident." More than 5,000 people gathered last Tuesday at Irwin's Australia Zoo to pay tribute to the man known the world over for his "Crikey" outbursts and enthusiasm for some of nature's deadliest creatures. Eight-year-old Bindi told the crowd at her father's public memorial service that she plans to carry on his conservationist efforts and promote his love for nature. The little girl's speech, which she studiously read from a piece of notepaper, prompted a standing ovation from the thousands in attendance. Despite Irwin's jovial demeanor, Terri said that her late husband had a feeling he wasn't going to live to a ripe old age, and not just because he bucked the odds every day. "He'd talk about it often," she said. "But it wasn't because of any danger from wildlife. That was never a consideration. He just felt life could be dangerous." Terri, who's from Oregon, and Steve Irwin tied the knot in 1992, six months after meeting in Australia, where Terri was on vacation. "I fell then and there, love at first sight," she said. The khaki-clad Croc Hunter told the pretty American that he had a girlfriend, though. "I was a little bit devastated," she says. But, luckily that "girlfriend" turned out to be Irwin's pet dog, Sue.
In her first interview since her husband's death, Steve Irwin's widow, Terri, said that the video footage captured of the Crocodile Hunter's run-in with the stingray that killed him will never be broadcast.
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