It's hard to second guess. He pulled it out himself. He's certainly NOT a medical professional, but he probably didn't know that it was imbedded IN his heart either...

Maybe he would have lasted longer w/o removing it, but I think it was a sure thing once he was stabbed.

Knowing and doing someing can be very different.

As a Scuba diver, I was trained and taught what to do if one runs out of air.

Well, several years ago at a family gathering, something got stuck in my wind pipe. I could not breath-just very small gapes (sp?). Rather than doing what I was trained to do (with two MD's only 10 feet from me ), I became so focused on just getting air and trying on my own to move object down my wind pipe that I did nothing to attact attention to myself!

We will never know what Mr. Irwin thought at the time but perhaps just thought to pull the stinger out and all would be well......:(

Last story I heard on CBS-News Radio was that the film was not going to be released.
There maybe some confusion with Mr. Erwins' wish to always have the camera rolling no matter what......

But added to that comment was that with Media and internet being as it is........

Family has no wish for a State funeral as has also been suggested.

I was wondering about the whole pulling out the barb thing too. Of course it all happened quickly and he probably didn't know it was in his heart, but I can't help but wonder if he might have had a slim chance of survival had he left it in. The serrated edges on those barbs cause severe damage when the barb is removed. But although the venom is not normally fatal to humans, everything I've read says that it does cause excruciating pain, and the trauma from that directly in his heart could have been enough to kill him whether he took out the barb or not. Plus, if you're in that much pain, I doubt you're thinking, "I better leave this in." I'm still really sad that he's gone. :(

I'm not sure what to believe, but on the radio, one of his reps said the stories that he pulled out the barb are "absolute rubbish"

This may sound a little heartless, but the death of anyone, celebrity or not is always tragic to that family member, but in the case of extreme sports, rockclimbing, skydiving, anything where you are taking a chance at almost certain death if something goes wrong...my sympathy is very limited.

Anytime you hear of a climber wanting to top, let's say, Mt. Everest...and he gets lost, hurt, etc. I think of every man that is putting his life at risk trying to rescue him.

I saw on TV the other day where 4 adults took a boat out into the ocean off the coast of Florida...WITH THE HURRICANE COMING...that had been reported for what? 3, 4 days at the time????

I think people should be sent a bill for doing stupid things like that so the taxpayers don't have to pay for stupid!

I think in general, people who do dangerous things are very well aware that what they are doing could potentially harm them, but what's the point of living if you're going to live like a grandma all your life?

I don't care if they know what they are doing is dangerous, I think every death is tragic regardless.

And at the very least, they died doing something they loved whether it be rockclimbing, sky diving or anything else and they actually got to live their life instead of just being an observer to life.

The Coast Guard frequently sends bills to people rescued from the Great Lakes/Detroit River if it was due to their own stupidity or if what they were doing was illegal (ice fishing in April, running out of gas, driving the boat while intoxicated, etc.)

i just saw clips from the memorial. steve should be very proud of his daughter.

Seriously - I don't even begin to know how she could stand up and speak so soon after her father died.

She is so freaking cute. I love her little voice with the accent. She certainly has a lot of him in her. She's going to have a long career ahead of her if she wants!