It’s been 20 years since Steve Irwin “The Crocodile Hunter” died from a stingray accident, and his family reflected on his life and legacy.
His son, Robert Irwin, shared a photo of himself as a baby sitting on his dad’s lap. “Your legacy is forever,” he captioned the post.
His sister, Bindi, shared a video of her dad reflecting on her birth and how he got her name.
“The most incredible wildlife encounter of my life was the birth of my daughter, Bindi,” Steve said in the video. “…I am the proudest father on the face of the earth, no doubt.”
In the caption, Bindi called her father a “superhero” and credited his career as a wildlife conservationist.
“My mum lost the love of her life; my brother and I lost the greatest dad,” she wrote. “Grief never truly leaves us; we walk alongside it every day. Where there is enormous grief, there is even greater love. I always thought that my dad’s legacy is wildlife conservation; it turns out, his legacy is love, for our planet and for each other.”
Bindi is a mom to her 5-year-old daughter, Grace. Grace starts every day by watching her grandfather’s documentaries.
Related: Daughter of the Late Steve Irwin Gives the MOST Touching Tribute!
“She feels utterly loved by her ‘grandpa crocodile’ without ever having met him,” Bindi wrote. “My dad left a lasting impact so poignant that it will ripple out for generations to come. I believe with my whole heart that his love will live on forever. In all of us. In every kindness we show to the Earth.”
Steve’s wife, Teri, reflected on the weeks leading up to his death. She says her grief never leaves her.
“We were together as a family, on our crocodile research expedition, for what was to be our final six weeks together. Ours was to be a long and sweet goodbye,” she said. “Steve spent time with Bindi and Robert building swings and climbing trees. We all slowed down. Time slowed down.”
She encouraged her family’s fans to cherish every moment that they have with their loved ones.
Bindi commented on her mom’s post, “love you so much, Mum. You are the strongest woman I know.”
When Irwin died, he had been filming a documentary with his cameraman, Justin Lyons.
Lyons said he got multiple shots of Irwin with a “massive” bull ray stingray. When the stingray was calm, they tried to get a good opening shot with it for the documentary.
“The stingray is in front of me, buried in the sand. He swims up, swims over the top of it. It doesn’t move. But as he’s directly over the top of it, of course, it thought he was a tiger shark and started stabbing madly towards him with its tail,” Lyons recounted. “The water just boiled.”
Lyons couldn’t see what happened but followed the stingray with his camera as it swam away. When he panned back to Irwin, the croc hunter jumped out of the water covered in blood.
“He screamed out, ‘It’s punctured me lung.’ I threw the camera into one of the rubber duckies, drag Steve into the boat,” Lyons remembered. “His khaki shirt is open, and he’s just got blood pouring out of a gash like that in his chest right over his heart. But he’s conscious, and he says to me, looks me right in the eye, and he says, ‘I’m dying.'”
Those were his last words.
Irwin is missed deeply by his family and many of his fans who watched his show and documentary. He leaves behind an incredible legacy.
Read Next: How Robert Irwin Carries on Father Steve Irwin’s Legacy
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