Steve Irwin died on September 4, 2006, after being fatally injured by a stingray while filming an underwater documentary called Ocean's Deadliest at Batt Reef, part of the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia

. The stingray, normally a docile creature, suddenly attacked Irwin by stabbing him multiple times in the chest with its barb, which pierced his heart and caused massive trauma and rapid cardiac arrest

. Despite immediate efforts by his crew to perform CPR for over an hour and transport him to nearby medical personnel on Low Isles, Irwin was pronounced dead at the scene

. His cameraman recalled Irwin's last words as "I'm dying," acknowledging the severity of his injury

. Irwin was 44 years old at the time of his death

. The attack was considered a freak accident, possibly triggered because the stingray mistook Irwin's shadow for a predator like a tiger shark

. Irwin's death was widely mourned and remains one of the very rare fatal stingray injuries recorded