RIP, Steve Irwin

It's very sad, a true B.A. has died. Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter, died when his heart was pierced by the barb of a stingray. Reports News 10:

Steve Irwin, the Australian TV personality and conservationist
known as the Crocodile Hunter, was killed today by a stingray barb to the heart during a diving expedition, police and his wildlife park said. 44-year-old Irwin was filming an underwater sequence for a television series on remote Batt Reef off the far northeast coast of Australia when he encountered the ray and was stung.

Crew members aboard Irwin's boat, Croc One, called emergency services in the nearest city, Cairns, and administered cardio pulmonary resuscitation techniques as they rushed the boat to nearby Low Isle to meet a rescue helicopter.

Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead at about midday...

Marine experts in Australia says it's not easy to be injured by a stingray, and very few people are killed by them. Neuroscientist Shaun Collin at the University of Queensland says Irwin, probably died because the barb pierced under his ribcage and directly into his heart.

Stingrays have a serrated, toxin-loaded barb, or spine, on the top of their tail. The barb can be up to ten inches long and it flexes if a ray is frightened. Collin says stings usually occur to people when they step on or swim too close to a ray and can be excruciatingly painful but are
rarely fatal.

My prayers go out to the Croc Hunter and his family.

RIP, Steve...