The widow of Australian crocodile hunter Steve Irwin said on Wednesday she hoped footage of her husband being killed by a stingray would never be seen.
SYDNEY: The widow of Australian crocodile hunter Steve Irwin said on Wednesday she hoped footage of her husband being killed by a stingray would never be seen.
American-born Terri Irwin also told Australia's Channel Nine in her first interview since his death three weeks ago that the wildlife adventurer always believed he would die young.
She said she had not seen footage of Irwin being killed by a stingray that punctured his heart with a razor-sharp tail barb while he was filming a documentary on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
While acknowledging that Irwin always told his documentary crews to "keep rolling" during his hair-raising exploits, Terri said there was nothing to be gained from showing the death footage.
"Obviously my wish was that it would never see the light of day," she said. "I think that would be the most respectful thing, I can't see any purpose for bringing that out."
Irwin's producer John Stainton said after the accident that he had viewed the "shocking" film, which showed Irwin pulling the stringray barb from his chest after the fatal blow.
Wearing the trademark khaki outfit favoured by her husband, mother-of-two Terri talked about the impact the death of her "Prince Charming" had on her family.
Her voice frequently breaking, she said Irwin always had a strong premonition he would die young, although he never believed an animal would kill him, as he seemed to share an "X-factor" with nature's creatures.
"I never thought it would be an animal, he never though it would be an animal. That never entered my mind" she said.
"I thought he would fall out of a tree -- he figured it would be a car accident. We used to laugh about it."
She said Irwin would have been amazed by the national outpouring of grief in Australia since his death, which psychologists have likened to the wave of mourning that gripped Britain after Princess Diana died.
"He would have said 'Crikey mate, I can't believe this.'"
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