Steve Irwin
© AFP/Getty Images/File Justin SullivanSydney, Oct. 20 (ANI): Late crocodile hunter Steve Irwin could have been saved had he not removed the stingray barb from his chest immediately, said a doctor who operated on an elderly American stingray victim on Thursday.
At an international conference call with journalists, Dr Eugene Costantini said that Irwin might have been able to receive vital medical attention if he had not ripped the barb out of his chest.
"The key was the removal that released the blood flow from the inside of the heart and I think that was probably the final event for Steve,'' Sydney Morning Herald quoted him as saying.
"If [the barb] had been left in place, he might have had the opportunity to make it to a hospital,'' he added.
Telling about his experience of operating on 82-year-old millionaire property developer James Bertakis, Dr Costantini said he had never expected to deal with a patient who had been stabbed in the heart the same way as Irwin.
He said that Bertakis was on a boat off the Florida coast with his two granddaughters when a spotted eagle ray leapt out of the water and landed in his boat. While removing it from the boat, it struck him in the heart with its six-centimeter barb.
Dr Costantini said that since the barb was not removed from his chest until operation, Bertakis had a much stronger chance of survival than Irwin.
He also said that treating such wounds did not differ much from dealing with injuries caused by knife and gunshot wounds.
"We see a lot of penetrating injuries and the technique for caring for it is essentially the same .. remove the foreign body and repair the damage,'' he said.
Irwin was taking part in a film shoot on the Great Barrier Reef last month when a stingray swimming beneath him lashed out, piercing his chest with its barb. The footage of the deadly strike showed Irwin pulling the barb from his chest and then falling unconscious. (ANI)