20/20 with Barbara Walters

[Daisy23]

Did anyone watch the special with Terri Irwin last night?

[Shadow]

I watched it, Pretty sad. She really has alot of admiration for him. She appears to be a very strong women to me and I think she will be just fine in given time. It was so heartbreaking to watch her cry though.

[alisonJ]

I saw it. I always liked Terri's TV presence more than I liked Steve's. It was very hard to see her grieving like that, with her emotions so near the surface. Especially after seeing her so happy in all the TV shows.

[RLC12345678]

I saw it. It was very touching. He has 2 gorgeous kids. Those kids are what is getting her through this.

I can't wait to see Bandi's new show. It looks TOO CUTE!

[Shadow]

Isn't she the brightest little girl ? So cute!

[Daisy23]

It was very touching. I never knew someone could love someone so much like she loved Steve. His daughter is amazing. How sad was it about his son getting the screwdriver to fix the motorbike so daddy can ride it in heaven. I cried watching it. The zoo looked so peaceful, its nice to see the animals werent caged.

I believe also that the children are getting her through this. I think he's buried at the zoo and is resting very peacefully.

[vainchick5]

I watched it too. Totally sad. I was crying right along with her. Though I felt bad and was so sad about it with her, I kind of felt like it was also a promotion for the zoo. She was doing a lot of "tv talk", and focused a lot on continuing to come to the zoo, ect. I feel so bad for her and those two beautiful kids. I hope his daughter doesn't grow up to blame herself for this, since he was filming for her show.

[Izzy'smom]

I watched part of it. Too sad to watch the whole show. Those poor kids. Please god watch over that family.

[sims822257]

Oh I watched it too and cried my flipping eyes out. It was so sweet how she was speaking of him but man what impressed me most was her faith in how everything happens for a reason. Most people understand and believe in this but it takes a very strong person to understand it while grieving.

I can not wait to see Bindi's show either ~ she looks so cute and sweet!

[RLC12345678]

Originally Posted by vainchick5

I watched it too. Totally sad. I was crying right along with her. Though I felt bad and was so sad about it with her, I kind of felt like it was also a promotion for the zoo. She was doing a lot of "tv talk", and focused a lot on continuing to come to the zoo, ect. I feel so bad for her and those two beautiful kids. I hope his daughter doesn't grow up to blame herself for this, since he was filming for her show.

From what I saw last night, I would be very surprised if Bindi grew up and blamed herself. Her mother said that growing up in a zoo, Bindi has seen death her whole life and she accepts it and she knows how to deal with it. I think Bindi is very mature for her age and very bright. I don't see her blaming herself...i see her carrying on her father's legacy.

[cheryl000]

Footage of the accident

TERRI IRWIN: "I haven't."

BARBARA WALTERS: "There has been some talk that the footage might be shown on television. How would you feel about that""

TERRI IRWIN: "Oh, it won't be. No. No. What purpose would that serve?"

On Steve taking such risks

BARBARA WALTERS: "Do you think that because his life was so full of danger that maybe he knew that it wasn't going to be a long life?"

TERRI IRWIN: "Oh, absolutely. He'd talk about it often. But it wasn't because of any danger from wildlife. That was never a consideration. He just felt life could be dangerous."

On hearing the news that her husband was killed Terri was traveling with her two children doing research in a distant part of Australia:

TERRI IRWIN: "I couldn't get phone reception. So, no one could reach me. And when I got to the destination for the night they said, "You have an urgent message And it was my brother-in-law on the phone. And he told me what happened. And I remember thinking, "Don't say it. Don't say it. Don't say it." 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. It was not risk he was taking. It was not a super-human feat of any thing. It was just an accident. And I couldn't fall to pieces because the children were there."

On what she told her daughter Bindi, 8

TERRI IRWIN: "I told Bindi that in life, you steel yourself for things that could go wrong, and I said, "When something goes wrong, you have to have faith, and you have to believe that it can be a new chapter, and that we can go on." And I told her everything about it and she cried and cried and cried, and I said, "We're still a family. Daddy still loves you. And we have to say together and get each other through this." We can understand the grief and we can life with the grief. But we will not be victims of this grief. We will be wildlife warriors like Steve Irwin."

On what parents should tell their children about Steve's death

TERRI IRWIN: "I think every parent should approach their child in the way that they know is best. I wouldn't claim to tell anyone the correct way to handle children, generally speaking, but I have great faith. And I know that, such enthusiasm and passion, and zest for life can't be gone. And I believe that will continue, and I believe that it's now our turn all of us to pick up where Steve left off And I'm not afraid for him. And I really believe one day we'll be together again. And I've always told Bindi, "If anything ever happened to me, I will always watch over you from Heaven." But she always understood because living at a zoo, animals die, she's seen death. She knows what death is."

The memorial

On not speaking at the memorial

TERRI IRWIN: "I couldn't. I couldn't. It's hard now. I'm really trying. I've lost my prince. I've lost my prince."

On Bindi speaking at the memorial

TERRI IRWIN: "She said good-bye to her father. She did a little card. She said what she wanted to say. She had tears. She talked to me every day about her dad. She talked to her dad. And she said, "I want to be at the memorial and say something about my daddy." She wrote it herself. We sat down with a dictaphone and she talked into the dictaphone first. And then wrote it down and then I helped her on the computer to type it out so she said, "I don't want to make any mistakes."

Getting by

On how she is getting through this tough time

TERRI IRWIN: "One minute at a time. Sometime an hour at a time. With great faith, great determination. I have tremendous faith in God that all things happen for a reason, even if we don't understand I have two beautiful children. And they really are my strength."

Doing it all over again with Steve

On falling in love with Steve and marrying him

TERRI IRWIN: "If I had to do it all over again, even knowing how it ended, I would, in a minute."

BARBARA WALTERS: "You've lost him, and you feel you were blessed?"

TERRI IRWIN: "I feel I was so blessed. I had a wonderful 14 years, two beautiful children and just a romance like I didn't think existed anymore, a wonderful, wonderful romance he was passionate and determined and enthusiastic and all those things. And there were so many things that made me crazy, like his desire to do everything now. He had a real sense of urgency with his life and no side view business plan. If you got plans, we'll do them now. Sometimes it was a little hard to keep up with him."

On how Steve "changed the world"

BARBARA WALTERS: "At the memorial it was said over and over again, "Steve changed the world." How did he change the world?"

TERRI IRWIN: "He changed the world by giving everyone the message that if you can reach out and touch and love and be with wildlife, you will forever be changed and you will want to make the world a better place. Because if everybody does something...we'll be okay. If we do nothing ... we're in trouble. And he did more than anybody. So I think we can all do something."

On what she will miss the most about Steve

TERRI IRWIN: "You know what I'll miss the most, and it's very selfish. He was fun. He was fun. He taught me it's okay to play in the rain. And splash in my puddle. And let the kids get dirty. And spill ice cream on your pants. He didn't sweat the little stuff. He followed the big picture. And he had fun! Now I'm going to work really hard at having fun again I'm Mrs. Steve Irwin. I've got a lot to live up to."

On when Terri first met Steve

TERRI IRWIN: "It was amazing. It was October 6th, 1991. It was Sunday, and I was visiting Australia with friends. And I came from Oregon and Australia was just this magical place so far away. And I went into this little reptile park, and Steve was doing the crocodile show, coincidentally. And when he was talking about catching smaller crocodile And I was absolutely floored. That was it. This man was a real-life hero. I fell then and there, love at first sight not a problem.""When I first met him I wasn't sure if he was married or not, but he didn't seem to be. He seemed to be talking to me like he kind of liked me, too. And I think it was kind of funny because he told me right off the bat that he had a girlfriend. And I was a little bit devastated and then he whistled and he said, "Come here, Sue." And I thought, "This is really odd." And then here came this little dog. And he said, "This is Sue ... this is me girlfriend.""

On Steve's love of crocodiles

TERRI IRWIN: "When he was in with those crocodiles, all he wanted to do was show you and convince you why you should love them He just absolutely loved crocodiles But you know how he saw them. Not as weird. He saw them as dinosaurs He saw them as the most amazing animals."

The Irwin family and their future

On Bindi, her eight-year-old daughter

TERRI IRWIN: "Bindi has a spirituality about her that I've seen with Steve. She has unbelievable sensitivity. She has an uncanny connection with wildlife. She has a love for them that was just like her dad's She seems to feel an animal. She seems to understand it and have this great gift of love."

On a new series being developed for the Discovery Network called Bindi the Jungle Girl, hosted by Bindi

BARBARA WALTERS: "Do you have apprehension about her following in his footsteps? She's only eight."

TERRI IRWIN: "Bindi is totally aware of the fact that there are dangers in the world and she's not a fearful person."

BARBARA WALTERS: "Are you afraid for her?"

TERRI IRWIN: "I'm afraid for my kids all the time. I'm afraid every time they get the flu but my fears are fears that any mother has. I have a wonderful gift that my children are growing up at a zoo. And instead of them hating and fearing wildlife, they love and embrace it."

On her plans now

TERRI IRWIN: "I have to be here for my children. I have to make sure the zoo keeps running. He planned all of that masterfully. He planned this wonderful business so that it could continue if anything happened to him."

On her son Bob

TERRI IRWIN: "Robert is just a joy he's beautiful and intuitivejust the other night he got the screw-driver out of the drawer. And I said, "What are you doing?" And he said, "I'm gonna fix the motorbike." And I said, "Well, you have to carry with the point down, and walk with the screw-driver." So off he goes, very carefully carrying it like it was a lit candle. Goes up to the motorbike and starts poking at it. I said, "What are you going to with the motorbike?" He said, "I'm fixing the motorbike so Daddy can drive it from Heaven.""

[cheryl000]

On the day of his death

JOHN STAINTON (Irwin's longtime business partner and friend who was with him the day of his death.): "It was the first day we'd had sunshine for about two or three days. He'd been sitting around for a couple of days and not working that much he said to me I'll go off and shoot segments for Bindi's show on the reef. Fine. The best thing that ever happened in terms of the circumstances was I never actually said to him, "Go and do this," I always had the fear in my life that I would direct him to go and do something and that would happen and I would feel like I'd caused it. But he actually did it himself. It was like he lifted that burden from me."

JOHN STAINTON: "It was called the bull ray. It was covered in sand. They bury themselves in the sand for camouflage and Steve was coming around over the top of it and the barb, the tail came up like that, went straight into his chest. And I saw his hands just pull it out like that and the next thing he just went up and I think there was blood in the water and I think that was after that I can't remember that."

BARBARA WALTERS: "There were those who said that the sting ray felt trapped because Steve was on top of it and the camera was close?"

JOHN STAINTON: "The camera wasn't close. The camera was probably 6, 8, 10 feet."

BARBARA WALTERS: "Had Steve worked with sting rays before?"

JOHN STAINTON: "A lot of times."

BARBARA WALTERS: "You have been with Steve for 15 years. In your words, what kind of a man was he?"

JOHN STAINTON: "He was a one-of-a-kind man. There's just no one else like him, ever. We had a special bond He was a pretty special human being. And I just want the world to know there will never be another Steve Irwin. Ever."

John Stainton on the footage of the accident:

JOHN STAINTON: "I'd never want to see it again, but I don't want anybody else to see it at all. And it should never be aired. It's just a horrible piece of film tape."

Posted 9/26/2006 10:35 PM ET