The sole witness to Steve Irwin's fatal stingray attack has said the Australian TV naturalist could not have been saved, even if he had been rushed directly to hospital. Justin Lyons, a close friend and cameraman, recounted the tragic events during an interview with Australia's Network Ten television.
Lyons explained that the stingray's jagged barb punctured Irwin's chest dozens of times, causing a massive injury to his heart. '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,' Lyons said.
The incident occurred in September 2006 while filming a series called Ocean's Deadliest on the Great Barrier Reef. Irwin and Lyons had set out in an inflatable boat to search for a tiger shark but instead encountered a 2.4-metre-wide stingray in chest-deep water. As Irwin approached to film, the stingray suddenly began stabbing wildly with its tail.
Lyons initially did not realise Irwin was injured until he saw him standing in a pool of blood. Despite intense pain from the venom, Irwin believed he had only punctured a lung. He managed to say, 'I'm dying,' before losing consciousness. Lyons performed CPR for over an hour until medics arrived, but Irwin was pronounced dead within seconds.
Lyons confirmed that another cameraman had filmed the rescue attempts, following Irwin's directive that all filming events be recorded. However, Lyons said the footage should never be shown publicly out of respect for Irwin's family.
