Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, will be missed

He wrestled crocodiles, faced fierce lions and handled the most venomous snakes in the world. Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter, has passed away and left us with some aw inspiring and captivating memories throughout the past 14 years of his life.

The 44-year-old Mr. Irwin's heart was pierced by the serrated, poisonous spine of a stingray as he swam with the creature Monday while shooting a new TV series called Oceans Deadliest, on the Great Barrier Reef, his manager John Stainton said.

A helicopter rushed paramedics to nearby
Low Isles, about 1,260 miles north of Brisbane, where Irwin was taken for treatment, but he was dead before they arrived, police said.

Crocodile hunter Steve Irwin pulled the barb of a bull stingray out of his chest with his hands moments before succumbing to the deadly blow, video footage of the accident showed today.

His producer and close friend, John Stainton, who viewed the film before handing it over to police, said the images were shocking. "It's a very hard thing to watch because you're actually witnessing somebody die and it's terrible," he said.

"It shows that Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail came up and spiked him here [in the chest] and he pulled it out and the next minute he's gone. That was it - the cameraman had to shut down."

The police, who will pass the footage on to the coroner, insisted Irwin had not provoked the stingray. Superintendent Mike Keating, of Queensland police, said: "There is no evidence that Mr Irwin was intimidating or threatening the stingray. My advice is that he was observing the stingray."

Local diving operator Steve Edmonson, whose boats were out on the Great Barrier Reef when the accident happened, said: "Steve was hit by a stingray in the chest - he probably died from a cardiac arrest from the injury."

Toxicology experts said Irwin's death was more likely to be a result of the physical injury to his chest than the stingray's venom.

''I am shocked and distressed at Steve Irwin's sudden, untimely and freakish death,'' Australian Prime Minister John Howard said. ''It's a huge loss to Australia.''

Throughout his years as The Crocodile Hunter, hes wrestled with crocodiles, faced fierce lions and handled the most venomous snakes in the world. For Steve Irwin to die from an encounter with a stingray was a freak occurrence, experts said. The great loss of Mr. Irwin has affected the world. He was an icon in the TV industry with the success of his popular show, The Crocodile Hunter. Mr. Irwin is a symbol for my generation as we grew up watching his show and its sad to see his passing.

Steven Irwin, we will miss you dearly rest in peace.