Bindi Irwin shares journal entry after Steve Irwin’s death

After being overwhelmed by the grief and shock of her dad’s death, Bindi revealed the moment that helped her “not to wallow in sadness anymore”.

Bindi Irwin has shared the journal entry she wrote just days after her father Steve Irwin’s death, saying the pivotal moment allowed her to move on.

Despite being just eight years old at the time, Bindi said the decision allowed her to “continue on”.

“I remember thinking, this emotion is going to shape me; this is going to be a real turning point on how I continue on with the rest of my life and I want to be strong for my family,” she said, appearing on the Australian podcast What About Death!?.

“One day — I wrote it in my journal, actually — I was like, ‘this is it; I am choosing not to wallow in sadness anymore’.

Bindi said the moment made her realised she wanted to continue her dad’s legacy. Picture: Supplied.

“I am choosing to find the strength that Dad had and continue on.”

In the conversation with Australian Tibetan Buddhist nun Tsultrim, Bindi said losing her father was the “hardest thing” her and her brother Bob Irwin have experienced and said their grief “walks beside us every day”.

The conservation advocate said while she felt overwhelmed by the “whirlwind” of grief, she felt propelled to continue her dad’s legacy.

“I made this decision and I was so young … I remember thinking: ‘I’m going to stand up and I’m going to be strong and I’m going to take all of my emotion and channel it into something good,’” she said.

Her shift in mindset resulted in her desire to speak Irwin’s memorial service where the eight-year-old celebrated her father’s conservation efforts.

“I have the best daddy in the whole world and I will miss him every day,” she said at the time. “When I see a crocodile I will always think of him and I know that Daddy made this zoo so everyone could come and learn to love all the animals.”

Images of Bindi giving the speech at her father’s memorial captured the nation. Picture: Steve Holland/Pool/Getty Images.

Steve Irwin with Bindi in 2005. Picture: Getty Images.

Steve Irwin was a famed Australian zookeeper, conservationist and wildlife expert who was famously known as ‘The Crocodile Hunter’ – which was also the name of his TV series.

Irwin tragically passed away on September 4, 2006 aged 44, after he was stung in the chest by a stingray barb at the Great Barrier Reef. At the time of his death, he was filming a documentary series called Ocean’s Deadliest.

Present at the day of Irwin’s death, his close friend and the producer behind The Crocodile Hunter TV show, John Stainton told the I’ve Got News For You podcast that Irwin gave a speech to the crew that felt “really weird”.

“He was sort of thanking them all for being who they were and for helping him … It was like a ‘finale’ speech … Very weird,” said Mr Stainton.

TV presenter adventurer crocodile hunter Steve Irwin with business manager John Stainton at Australia Zoo. Picture: Supplied.

“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.”

Speaking on Anh’s Brush with Fame, his wife Terri Irwin also shared the eerie prediction Irwin had about his early death.

“You know he never thought he would have a long life. He just always kind of had this sense that his life would be cut short,” she said.

“I remember him saying to me, ‘I don’t think I am going to film anymore, I think I am just going to spend time with my kids.’”