Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, was killed by a stingray today whilst filming a documentary off the coast of Queensland. One of my friends in Australia told me about it almost as soon as it had been posted on the Australian newspaper website. I found the news so hard to believe, probably because Steve Irwin had such a larger-than-life presence, that you think that nothing will ever happen to him, even though he had such a dangerous job.

I still remember how quickly he rose to the top in the television industry when he first came out, as well as the huge uproar from the public when he held his baby boy whilst feeding a crocodile (similar to the reaction when Michael Jackson dangled his baby over the window balcony. All this news shows how much he was in the spotlight (after all, nobody really takes this to heart if an unknown put their child in danger). I can only imagine how traumatised his wife and children must be. His son is only three years old now, and most probably he will not be able to remember his father when he grows up, except for watching him on TV.

When I told my colleagues at work of the news, the general response was, “Are you joking??”. Which, honestly, was kind of the same reaction that I had as well. It’s the same reaction I got when I told my mum that Princess Diana was killed in a car accident. I remember that day well…

It was Merdeka Day, and I had just come back after participating in the parade (Yes, geeky though it may sound, I was in the school band). I turned on the TV, and it was breaking news on CNN. I quickly shouted the news to my mum, who was doing something in the kitchen, and she said, “You shouldn’t joke about things like that!” I guess this kind of news is so much harder to believe when the person is young, and you never expected anything to happen to them.

My sympathies to Steve Irwin’s relatives and friends…

Related posts:

1. RIP Roy Scheider ...
2. Scary birth story ...
3. Phobias and such ...