While filming a segment for his show, Steve "The Crocodile Hunter" Irwin was stabbed in the chest by a stingray. He said these words to his cameraman as he realized what was happening: "I'm dying." According to the incident's only witness, "All of a sudden [the stingray] propped on its front and started stabbing wildly with its tail. Hundreds of strikes in a few seconds". Irwin initially believed he only had a punctured lung; the stingray's barb pierced his heart, causing him to bleed to death. The stingray's behaviour appeared to have been a defensive response to being boxed in.
Crew members aboard Irwin's boat administered CPR and rushed him to shore. Medical staff pronounced him dead at the scene. Irwin's death is believed to be the only fatality from a stingray ever captured on video. News of Irwin's death prompted reactions around the world. Then-Prime Minister John Howard expressed "shock and distress" at the death, saying that "Australia has lost a wonderful and colourful son."