Just how many times can your heart break over the same matter?
This is what many who love Steve Irwin have been asking themselves lately. The beloved Australian host of the popular The Crocodile Hunter TV show suddenly and tragically died back in 2006, causing fans to mourn all over the world. And in the years since then, numerous tributes to Irwin’s life have brought those tears back, fresher than ever.
No tribute, however, is quite as devastating as the one 18-year-old Robert Irwin recently made for his father on TikTok. Keep reading to watch.
The life and death of Steve Irwin
It’s almost impossible to sum up the life and legacy of Steve Irwin. After all, he was much more than the host of a popular reality show about wildlife. In many ways, he singlehandedly changed the way many people approach topics like wild animals and conservation.
His Crocodile Hunter TV show debuted back in 1996. It seemed to get more popular each year, and the influence of Steve Irwin kept rising. But that influence was cut short 10 years later along with his life.
In 2006, Irwin was filming for the documentary Ocean’s Deadliest. This brought him to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. As he was filmed there snorkeling underwater he was attacked by a stingray. The barb of the stingray pierced his heart, and the legendary Steve Irwin died very shortly thereafter.
Tragically, Steve left behind his beloved wife Terri Irwin and their young children. Their daughter Bindi was eight and their son Robert was just two years old when Steve died. Fans knew Bindi and Robert from their appearances on The Crocodile Hunter, where Steve even first learned that Terri was pregnant with Robert. You can watch this in the clip below.
Steve Irwin’s children continue his legacy
From an early age, Steve instilled a love of nature and wildlife in his two children.
As the oldest child, it fell on Bindi to write and deliver a eulogy for her father after his death. The eulogy was beautiful and heartfelt, and Bindi delivered it perfectly in front of a crowd of 5,000 (not counting the internet crowd of 300 million).
The younger child, Robert, was not quite three years old when his dad died. Therefore, he played less of a role in his father’s funeral. But as he grew older, Robert began following in his father’s footsteps in several important ways.
Like father, like son
As Robert Irwin grew older, he took on Steve Irwin’s mission at the Australia Zoo, where he follows in his father’s footsteps handling crocodiles, snakes, and other animals.
But carrying on Steve’s mission of animal conservation meant more than embracing and loving wildlife. It also meant amassing the kind of fans and platforms necessary to make an impact on the world.
In 2013, for example, he starred alongside his sister and mom in Steve Irwin’s Wildlife Warriors. One year later, he was helping to host Wild But True on the Discovery Channel. Eventually, Robert became a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, using the show to share his love of exotic animals.
Robert also spreads his dad’s message of conservation through his photography, which is often published in Australia Zoo’s Crikey magazine. On occasion, he auctions prints of his photographs to help raise money for Wildlife Warriors, his family’s nonprofit organization. You can see his photography on Instagram.
But Robert Irwin’s biggest impact on social media came when he shared a heartbreaking TikTok tribute to Steve on Father’s Day.
Robert’s heartbreaking Father’s Day tribute
Carrying on his father’s legacy in so many ways is already enough to tug at your heartstrings. But just in case you weren’t crying already, you should see the heartbreaking tribute Robert Irwin posted for his father on TikTok on Father’s Day in June 2022.
The video runs for a little less than a minute and mashes up different moments of Steve Irwin interacting and playing with his children. And Robert began the caption for this video in a very sweet way: “I had the best dad in the world. Thinking of him and remembering nothing but fun times.”
However, it was the end of the caption that really brought us to tears. There, Robert wrote that he was “sending love to those who couldn’t celebrate with their Dad.”
Bringing Steve Irwin’s love of nature to a new generation
While Steve Irwin did many things for wildlife and nature conservation behind the scenes, he will always be best known for his reality television programs. And it looks like this is another way that Robert Irwin has managed to follow in his father’s footsteps.
Since 2018, Robert and his family have starred in their own reality show fittingly titled Crikey! It’s the Irwins. The show focuses on their work at the Australia Zoo. And while this Animal Planet show may be filmed in the “land down under,” this popular program has fans all over the world.
Ultimately, Robert’s tribute to his father was enough to break our hearts. But all of his amazing work onscreen and off to help a new generation love nature is enough to mend our hearts together again.
Such beautiful memories ♥️🥰🙏🏼