February 11, 2009 5:56 PM
- Text
Croc Hunter's Wife Talks About Loss
(CBS/AP)
"Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin's widow says she has not seen the film of her husband's deadly encounter with a stingray and that it will not ever be shown on television.
"What purpose would that serve?" Terri Irwin said in an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, which is scheduled to air Wednesday in the United States and Australia.
Irwin, 44, died Sept. 4 when a stringray's barb pierced his chest while he filmed a TV show on the Great Barrier Reef.
A memorial service held for him last week at the family-owned wildlife park where he lived in Queensland state was broadcast on three television networks in Australia.
CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips reported that in a separate interview with Australia's Channel 9, aired Wednesday, Terri Irwin still seemed to be struggling to accept Steve's death.
"I'm still at the stage where I think he's going to come home, and it didn't really happen," she said.
The widow added: "There never has been before and never will be again another Steve Irwin."
According to Phillips, that assessment is probably accurate. He reported that Irwin was not merely a popular television personality, but was "the center of an industry."
Since his death, his wife and children have consistently appeared wearing the same Australia Zoo uniforms that the charismatic host made so recognizable through his programs.
Queensland State Premier Peter Beattie announced on Wednesday that the road that runs past the park in the hamlet of Beerwah would be renamed after the television star and conservationist.
"Steve Irwin and his family have put Beerwah on the map, and I can think of no more fitting tribute," Beattie said.
Irwin's friend and business partner, John Stainton, has seen the film of his death. He told Walters he never wants to see it again and does not want anyone else to see it, either. "It's just a horrible piece of film tape," he said.
American-born Terri Irwin said she was on a research trip in Australia with the couple's two children, 8-year-old daughter Bindi and 2-year-old son Bob, when her brother-in-law reached her with the news.
"I remember thinking, 'Don't say it. Don't say it. Don't say it,' " she said. "I looked out the window, and Bindi was skipping … skipping along outside the window. And I thought, 'Oh, my children. He wouldn't have wanted to leave the children.' And I knew it was an accident. It was an accident, so stupid. It was like running with a pencil."
She said it is important for her family to continue the work her husband did in teaching the world about wildlife.
"I've always told Bindi, 'If anything ever happened to me, I will always watch over you from heaven,' " she said. "But she always understood because living at a zoo, animals die, she's seen death. She knows what death is."
Irwin told Walters that she is getting through her grief "one minute at a time."
She said her son Bob recently took a screwdriver out of the drawer and said he was going to fix the family's motorbike.
"Off he goes, very carefully carrying it like it was a lit candle," she said. "Goes up to the motorbike and starts poking at it. I said, 'What are you doing to the motorbike?' He said, 'I'm fixing the motorbike so daddy can drive it from heaven.' "
"What purpose would that serve?" Terri Irwin said in an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, which is scheduled to air Wednesday in the United States and Australia.
Irwin, 44, died Sept. 4 when a stringray's barb pierced his chest while he filmed a TV show on the Great Barrier Reef.
A memorial service held for him last week at the family-owned wildlife park where he lived in Queensland state was broadcast on three television networks in Australia.
CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips reported that in a separate interview with Australia's Channel 9, aired Wednesday, Terri Irwin still seemed to be struggling to accept Steve's death.
"I'm still at the stage where I think he's going to come home, and it didn't really happen," she said.
The widow added: "There never has been before and never will be again another Steve Irwin."
According to Phillips, that assessment is probably accurate. He reported that Irwin was not merely a popular television personality, but was "the center of an industry."
Since his death, his wife and children have consistently appeared wearing the same Australia Zoo uniforms that the charismatic host made so recognizable through his programs.
Queensland State Premier Peter Beattie announced on Wednesday that the road that runs past the park in the hamlet of Beerwah would be renamed after the television star and conservationist.
"Steve Irwin and his family have put Beerwah on the map, and I can think of no more fitting tribute," Beattie said.
Irwin's friend and business partner, John Stainton, has seen the film of his death. He told Walters he never wants to see it again and does not want anyone else to see it, either. "It's just a horrible piece of film tape," he said.
American-born Terri Irwin said she was on a research trip in Australia with the couple's two children, 8-year-old daughter Bindi and 2-year-old son Bob, when her brother-in-law reached her with the news.
"I remember thinking, 'Don't say it. Don't say it. Don't say it,' " she said. "I looked out the window, and Bindi was skipping … skipping along outside the window. And I thought, 'Oh, my children. He wouldn't have wanted to leave the children.' And I knew it was an accident. It was an accident, so stupid. It was like running with a pencil."
She said it is important for her family to continue the work her husband did in teaching the world about wildlife.
"I've always told Bindi, 'If anything ever happened to me, I will always watch over you from heaven,' " she said. "But she always understood because living at a zoo, animals die, she's seen death. She knows what death is."
Irwin told Walters that she is getting through her grief "one minute at a time."
She said her son Bob recently took a screwdriver out of the drawer and said he was going to fix the family's motorbike.
"Off he goes, very carefully carrying it like it was a lit candle," she said. "Goes up to the motorbike and starts poking at it. I said, 'What are you doing to the motorbike?' He said, 'I'm fixing the motorbike so daddy can drive it from heaven.' "
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Tucker Reals Tucker Reals is a senior news editor and overnight site editor for CBSNews.com, based at CBS News' London bureau.
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