Steve Irwin died in 2006 after an attack from a stingray. Photo / ABC
Steve Irwin died in 2006 after an attack from a stingray. Photo / ABC
After Steve Irwin was tragically killed by an eight-foot stingray in 2006 during filming for a documentary, his family and friends made a silent pact never to air the footage or talk about his final moments.
So when the Crocodile Hunter's cameraman revealed his final words during a televised interviewon Channel 10 last year, Irwin's father and close friends were devastated.
Cameraman Justin Lyons told how he was in the water with Irwin on Australia's Great Barrier Reef when Irwin was stabbed by a stingray "hundreds of times", resulting in a deadly blow that punctured his heart.
Bob Irwin, Steve Irwin's father, said he was angry about Justin Lyons talking about his son in public. Photo / ABC
"I personally felt very sad and to a degree angry about what Justin had to say," Bob Irwin revealed during an interview with the ABC's Australian Story.
"For a lot of people trying to get on with their lives without Steve - it wasn't something that helped by any means," he explained.
During Lyons' Studio 10 interview last year, he told how he and Irwin were filming the stingray for the documentary Ocean's Deadliest for some time before they decided to get one last shot of Irwin swimming up behind the animal.
"All of a sudden it propped on its front and started stabbing wildly with its tail, hundreds of strikes in a few seconds," Mr Lyons said.
He explained the stingray probably thought Irwin's shadow was a tiger shark and acted to defend itself.
Lyons did not realise that anything was wrong with his friend at first, as he was filming the stingray swim away.
"It wasn't until I panned the camera back [and saw] that Steve was standing in a huge pool of blood that I realised something had gone wrong."
He managed to get the injured wildlife expert back on to the boat, where he saw the extent of his injuries.
He said the stingray had a "jagged barb", which "went through his chest like hot butter".
"He had a about a two-inch injury over his heart, with blood-fluid coming out of it," said Mr Lyons.
"He was in extraordinary pain. [The stingrays] have got venom on their barb, so I'm sure it was excruciatingly painful.
"Even if we'd been able to get him into an emergency ward at that moment, we probably wouldn't have been able to save him because the damage to his heart was massive."
Nicole Byrne worked as Steve Irwin's personal assistant. Photo / ABC
Lyons, who had not spoken about the tragic death of his friend before, held back tears as he described Irwin's last moments.
"As we're motoring back, I'm screaming at one of the other crew in the boat to put their hand over the wound and we're saying to him things like, "Think of your kids, Steve. Hang on, hang on, hang on."
"He just sort of calmly looked up at me and said, 'I'm dying.' And that was the last thing he said."
Lyons was the first person to speak about Irwin's death publicly but during Monday night's Australian Story, Irwin's elite Croc Team also spoke about the devastating personal effect of losing him.
His personal assistant Nicole Byrne and right-hand man Briano Coulter are two of those who have finally broken their silence, alongside Bob Irwin.
"I do think of Steve every day because I see Steve and I hear him in every single animal. Every single encounter that I have, he's there," Ms Byrne said.
The popular Australian naturalist's death was mourned worldwide, particularly by friends and family including his two children, Bindi and Robert, and wife Terri.
Irwin's team further struggled to deal with his absence and went their separate ways as they dealt with the pain of the loss on their own.
But recently they reunited for the first time in eight years as they gathered at Bob Irwin's home to share some of the fondest memories they have of the beloved conservationist.
"I haven't opened up about the effect of Steve's death on me to anyone, not even to my husband. Because of who Steve was, the world was on fire, the world wanted to know everything and anything to do with Steve at that time," Ms Byrne said on Australian Story.
Ms Byrne told of how she felt "incredibly privileged" to be a member of Irwin's personally selected team.
"Steve Irwin knew how to build a team and the Croc Team were the elite team," she said.
"He would keep you at a distance until he got to learn about who you were and then he would bring you into his world.
"Everyone else was actually, you know, intimidated by the Croc Team because they were on all the documentaries. They were the star attraction."
But members of the elite team moved on from Australia Zoo, opened by Irwin's parents back in 1970 on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, following the Crocodile Hunter's sudden death and only just re-established contact at Bob Irwin's property in southeast Queensland.
"I hadn't seen these people for eight years and I was probably a bit apprehensive about it. I'd sort of left their company on what you'd call not a joyous basis and I didn't know how they'd react," Mr Irwin said.
The reunion was an opportunity for members to share their stories - how they first met Irwin, what it was like to work with him and the impact he's had on their lives.
For Mr Coulter, it was a time of reflection.
"I got to know him as a very tough and knock-about boss but also on a very, very personal level," he told Australian Story.
"Because we shared a passion for surfing and still at to this day, it's some of the best times of my life."
For 75-year-old Bob Irwin, he says working with his son's loyal team would be something that he never forgot.
"Steve, he managed to get a very loyal group of people that worked really really well together," he said.
"Some of those moments I don't think I will ever forget - working with those people." But the death of his son also took a heavy toll on Mr Irwin.
"I had things to get sorted out in my own head and that took a long time to get that sorted and not be like a hermit because it wasn't doing me any good," he said.
Widow Terri, 50, and children Bindi, 16, and Robert, 10, passionately continue Irwin's animal-loving legacy.
