November 15th is Steve Irwin Day, the annual day the world unites to honour the life and legacy of Australia’s legendary Crocodile Hunter.
On this year’s event, one of Irwin’s closest friends has discussed the ominous buildup to the end of his Irwin’s life, including a speech the late conservationist made that seemed incredibly eerie.
Producer John Stainton, co-creator of The Crocodile Hunter, spoke to news.com.au‘s podcast I’ve Got News For You, revealing that he always “felt uncomfortable” about Ocean’s Deadliest, the final documentary made by Irwin at the time of his death.
His anxiety about the project was so strong that he tried to have it cancelled before shooting started – when the Discovery Channel wouldn’t let that happen, Stainton even prepared a will.
“I felt uncomfortable about it when we were sort of going into the production,” Stainton said. “In fact, three weeks before we were lined up to shoot I actually rang Discovery and said ‘Look at I don’t feel good about this thing’.
I just had this premonition in January that would be the last day of my life this year. I just had this really weird feeling … So much so that I went and got tests and CAT scans. I thought ‘I have to have something wrong with me’ (but) nothing came back.”
While Stainton feared for his own life, it was Irwin who was killed after being pierced in the chest by stingray in September 2006. He was just 44 at the time of his death, a tragedy that shocked fans around the world.
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Stainton also recalled an eerie speech that the late star made to the doc’s crew that in hindsight felt final. “A couple of days before we started the show, he made a little speech to all the crew that were up there catching crocs for his research trip which I joined at the end with our crew to do the deadliest movie. And it was really weird,” he told the podcast.
“He was sort of thanking them all for being who they were and for helping him … It was like a ‘finale’ speech… Very weird. I had this idea on arriving that something was wrong, but it’s just life, you never know what things are going to do to you,” he added.
Check out Australia Zoo’s guide to Steve Irwin Day:
