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die Fechterin · 09-04-2006, 09:58 AM

But for all of you out there who were fans of "The Crocodile Hunter", you might want to read this.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14663786/

Australia has lost a great man.

fencingfrog · 09-04-2006, 10:13 AM

its so sad. and so hard to believe b/c it was such a freak accident.

Mr Epee · 09-04-2006, 10:54 AM

Stabbed through the heart... and it's to late!

You give stingrays a bad name.

keropie · 09-04-2006, 11:16 AM

Not that I'm not sympathetic to the plight, or to his family, etc., but let's face it: when you go out and put yourself into these situations over and over again, it's no longer a 'freak' accident, it's simple probability. Eventually, it's gonna go bad, and it did.

That having been said, I don't blame him. This is who he was, and if you're going to live (or die), you might as well be who you are.

D+F+P=Hadouken! · 09-04-2006, 11:35 AM

The least he could have done is been killed by a frickin crocodile.

Sucks, I feel sorry for his wife and kids.

fencingfrog · 09-04-2006, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keropie

Not that I'm not sympathetic to the plight, or to his family, etc., but let's face it: when you go out and put yourself into these situations over and over again, it's no longer a 'freak' accident, it's simple probability. Eventually, it's gonna go bad, and it did.

That having been said, I don't blame him. This is who he was, and if you're going to live (or die), you might as well be who you are.

what i meant was that a stingray got him thru the heart!! the odds of that are like a kagillion to one. its usually the stingray gets you (which we expect for someone like him), you live in pain for a while and recover. it wasnt the venom for him, it was the fact that it stabbed him in the heart!

RebelFencer · 09-04-2006, 12:09 PM

Guess he should have allocated some extra points for Super Luck.

RoninX · 09-04-2006, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fencingfrog

what i meant was that a stingray got him thru the heart!! the odds of that are like a kagillion to one. its usually the stingray gets you (which we expect for someone like him), you live in pain for a while and recover. it wasnt the venom for him, it was the fact that it stabbed him in the heart!

No... it was venom in the heart, the actual puncture was apparently minute, so that he almost asuredly would've lived except for the venom.

RebelFencer · 09-04-2006, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoninX

No... it was venom in the heart, the actual puncture was apparently minute, so that he almost asuredly would've lived except for the venom.

Actually the article said that clouds of blood appeared where he was swimming and that his heart had gotten some form of puncture. But yes, it was definately the poison which killed him.

keropie · 09-04-2006, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fencingfrog

what i meant was that a stingray got him thru the heart!! the odds of that are like a kagillion to one. its usually the stingray gets you (which we expect for someone like him), you live in pain for a while and recover. it wasnt the venom for him, it was the fact that it stabbed him in the heart!

Oh, I understand that he was unlucky in where he was hit. However, if you risk a .5% of death 1,000,000 times, overall there is a 100-(1.2e-2175) percent chance the you'll die somewhere in that 1,000,000 times. Or if you only risk it 1000 times, it's a 99.3% that you die somewhere in the 1000 times. So eventually, it happens.

I still feel bad for his family, etc. And I still say he died doing what he loved, so it could have been so much worse.

Aqua_volans · 09-04-2006, 01:10 PM

Talk about BLOODY bad luck... This time it cost a life.

RebelFencer · 09-04-2006, 01:11 PM

I feel bad for his daughter because it sounds like he died doing something to help out for her tv show.

RoninX · 09-04-2006, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keropie

So eventually, it happens.

Wait... are you saying we're all going to die? Say it ain't so!

As with others... condolences to his family.

Additionally I'd like to add that as a child of the 80s the crocodile hunter filled the hole in my heart that only a televised fun loving aussie can. It had been empty ever since paul hogan stopped doing subaru commercials.

Sabresque · 09-04-2006, 04:06 PM

I'm seriously upset about this... he was an entertaining proponent of conservation and he did a great job of making it popular. I feel horrible for his two little girls, his wife, and all his friends. I'll never look at my croc hunter shirt the same.

Phaeton · 09-04-2006, 04:19 PM

There's already a thread on this. Nonetheless, I wonder how it's possible to get stabbed through the heart. That's a hell of a lot of speed coming out of the stingray to pierce the sternum, or just a really unlucky angle.

Apart from a few missteps he helped the ecological community world with by education and funding conservation. He made enjoyable television; it's a sad thing to see him go.

D'Artag-NOT · 09-04-2006, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keropie

Not that I'm not sympathetic to the plight, or to his family, etc., but let's face it: when you go out and put yourself into these situations over and over again, it's no longer a 'freak' accident, it's simple probability.

Actually, it really was a freak accident, from what I've read. I have this book called Dangerous to Man by Roger Caras, all about dangerous animals, and this morning I looked up the "Skates and Rays" chapter. Apparently most people who are stung by rays get it in the foot or leg, usually after stepping on the critters while wading; although the sting is extremely painful, in developed countries where appropriate medical care is available it's very seldom fatal.

The book had a footnote mentioning two people who had been killed the way Irwin was, by a sting to the heart, but evidently it really is exceptionally rare. It's not like that Timothy Treadwell guy who kept living among bears and interacting with them in inappropriate ways until he was finally killed and eaten by one.

keropie · 09-04-2006, 09:26 PM

AHHH! The point is that if you continuously take these risks, they WILL catch up with you. Sure, the fact that it's THIS PARTICULAR incident that happened is 'unlikely,' but the odds of SOMETHING like this happening were surprisingly good. Eventually, even a quarter can land on its edge.

RoninX · 09-04-2006, 09:36 PM

True. Lion tamers, wild life experts etc are always meeting their ends (tragic as they may be) at the hands of the creatures they work with and around safely for years. The fact is it only take one piece of bad luck at the wrong time and these people expose themselves to those risks very frequently.

Aqua_volans · 09-04-2006, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoninX

True. Lion tamers, wild life experts etc are always meeting their ends (tragic as they may be) at the hands of the creatures they work with and around safely for years. The fact is it only take one piece of bad luck at the wrong time and these people expose themselves to those risks very frequently.

Remember siegfried and roy?

die Fechterin · 09-04-2006, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aqua_volans

Remember siegfried and roy?

Roy was thought to have had a stroke while the show was going on. Theoretically, the tiger "sensed" it and tried to help Roy, not kill him. Sigfried said the same thing. Roy actually credits the tiger for helping save his life...in a way. They still own the tiger.