His death shocked the world in 2006 and Steve Irwin’s family have been living with that grief ever since. However, their determination to continue his legacy has seen them become stars in their own right, while remaining true to his beliefs and biggest dreams.
Now, some of their most treasured memories from both before and after his tragic death have been compiled into a new video, celebrating the life and work of the late ‘Crocodile Hunter’.
Steve’s daughter Bindi, 20, shared the footage, created by People magazine as a tribute to Steve, on her Instagram page and revealed she felt “truly blessed” to have the memories on camera and to have felt so much love in her life.
From Bindi revealing her father was always her inspiration from childhood, to her mum and Steve’s devoted wife Terri describing her deep and unending love of her husband in rare and largely unseen clips, the video spans right back to their time as a couple before welcoming their children, and on to the present day.
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“What do you want to be when you grow up?” An interviewer asks a very tiny Bindi at one point, to which she replies: “Just like my Daddy”.
Another video of her slightly older sees her say: “My mum, my dad, they are my two definite role models.”
More photos and videos focus on Steve’s work, while another shows Terri recall a conversation she had with her husband before they welcomed Bindi together, with her explaining: “He [Steve] said, ‘We’ve got to have kids, like who do we leave all this to? Who’s gonna carry on’? And I go, ‘You do know that just because you have kids doesn’t mean they’re gonna want to do what you do’? And he goes, ‘Oh no they will, they definitely will’.”
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Their youngest son Robert appears alongside Bindi throughout the video, showing how they have gone on to follow Steve’s dream just like he predicted, before loving photos of Steve and Terri flash up as she is heard saying: “Steve was someone who was larger than life, and really did live life to the fullest. And I had my happily ever after.”
Steve sadly died in 2006 while filming a documentary at Batt Reef, near Port Douglas, Queensland. He is said to have begun snorkelling in shallow waters and approached a stingray underwater. According to the incident’s only witness, it stabbed him through the heart causing him to pass away shortly after.