STEVE Irwin's wife and two children rushed from the Tasmanian wilderness to their Queensland home last night after the Australian legend died in a freak stingray attack.
Irwin, the superstar Crocodile Hunter and passionate conservationist, was killed when a stingray barb pierced his heart as he filmed footage for a new documentary on shallow reefs in north Queensland.
Footage of his fatal goring has been handed over to Queensland police.
"The footage shows him swimming in the water, the ray stopped and turned and that was it," said boat owner Peter West.
"Something happened with this animal that made it rear and he was at the wrong position at the wrong time and if it hit him anywhere else we would not be talking about a fatality."
Irwin's family was hiking more than 4000km away near Cradle Mountain.
Wife Terri, daughter Bindi Sue, 8, and son Bob, 2, flew out of Devonport to the Sunshine Coast on a chartered flight shortly after 5pm.
Bindi clutched a blanket and stayed close to her mother, while her younger brother Bob skipped ahead as the family walked across the tarmac to their aircraft.
Friend and film producer John Stainton said Irwin had been swimming over the top of a giant bull ray in just 2m of water when it lashed out, driving a barb into his heart.
"It's likely he died instantly . . . I don't think he felt any pain," Stainton said.
The star's film crew hauled Irwin on to his boat, Croc One, and made a futile attempt to revive him just after 11am yesterday.
Paramedics from Queensland Helicopter Rescue tried to revive him but he is believed to have died from a heart attack caused by severe blood loss.
"It became clear fairly soon he had non-survivable injuries," said Dr Ed O'Loughlin, who was aboard the rescue helicopter.