'I'm Dying': Cameraman reveals Final Words of Steve Irwin and describes how Crocodile Hunter was Stung Hundreds of times by Stingray until a Barb went Through his Heart
- The Crocodile Hunter was killed by a stingray in Queensland
- His cameraman and good friend Justin Lyons filmed the stingray attack
- The stingray stabbed Irwin 'hundreds of times', left him 'in a pool of blood'
- He recounted his mate's calm final words: 'I'm dying'
By Daily Mail UK, 10 March 2014
The cameraman who filmed Steve Irwin’s final moments has spoken for the first time about the Crocodile Hunter’s shocking death.
Justin Lyons was in the water with Irwin when he was killed by a stingray eight years ago and told how the sting ray stabbed his mate ‘hundreds of times’, including one blow that punctured his heart.
Mr Lyons, whom Steve Irwin described as his ‘right-hand man,’ said they were cruising in an inflatable boat off the coast of far north Queensland looking for something to film for a documentary when they spotted the giant stingray.
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Tragic end: Steve Irwin's cameraman and 'right-hand man' Justin Lyons has shared what happened in the Crocodile Hunter's final moments
They filmed the stingray, which measured eight feet across, for some time before they decided to get one last shot of Steve 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 told Channel Ten’s Studio 10 programme.
He said the stingray probably thought Steve Irwin’s shadow was a tiger shark and acted to defend itself.
Mr 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.’
Wildlife Cameraman talks about Steve Irwin's Death for First Time
Watch the whole interview, Click HERE
He managed to get the injured Crocodile Hunter back onto 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.
'Hundreds of strikes': Cameraman Justin Lyons demonstrated the stingray's fatal blows
The Irwins pose for a family portrait in 2007. From left: Bindi, Steve, Robert and Terri
‘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.'
Mr Lyons, who has not spoken about the tragic death of his friend before, held back tears as he described Mr 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.’
Mr Lyons could not believe what had happened to his seemingly invincible best mate.
‘We thought he was going to live forever,’ he said.
‘We hoped for a miracle, so I literally did CPR on him for over an hour before we got him to … the medics.’
But the Crocodile Hunter was pronounced dead by medics at the scene.
Mr Irwin had a rule that his crew were to keep filming no matter who was injured and so the stingray’s attack, the CPR on Steve and his death were all caught on camera.
Mr Lyons insists he does not know where the footage is and believes it should never be aired out of respect for his family.
‘I don't know what's happened to it and I hope it would never see the light of day,’ he said
Animal lovers: Bindi Irwin has expressed the desire to continue her father's work and announced last week that she will partnering with Seaworld
The Crocodile Hunter tackled many dangerous animals during his life. He is pictured here during filming in West Africa
Irwin's widow and children were in New York last week, pictured, where Bindi announced her controversial involvement with Sea World as a youth ambassador
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