Steve Irwin’s Widow Posts Tribute to Him 35 Years After Their ‘Chance Meeting’

20 years after Steve Irwin suddenly died at 44, the famed Australian conservationist’s widow, Terri, opens up about their “chance meeting.”

While reflecting on her time with Irwin, Terri recalled first meeting her late husband.

“It was 35 years ago today that I met the most incredible man at a tiny roadside wildlife park in Queensland, Australia,” she wrote in her most recent Instagram post. “This chance meeting would change my life forever. I always felt that Steve and I were more than soulmates. Our life’s purpose was even bigger. I am truly blessed to live a life so full of love, family, and adventure.”

Steve and Terri first met in 1991 when Terri visited the wildlife Steve’s parents founded, and he worked at during her Australian trip. She traveled from Eugene, Oregon.

The couple said it was love at first sight. “I thought there was no one like this anywhere in the world,” Terri previously shared. “He sounded like an environmental Tarzan, a larger-than-life superhero guy.”

Steve and Terri got engaged four months after meeting and married in Eugene, Oregon, in June 1992. They welcomed their daughter, Bindi, in 1998 and their son, Robert, in 2003.

Steve died on September 4, 2006, after he was pierced in the chest by a short-tail stingray barb. He had been filming in the Great Barrier Reef for the documentary series Ocean’s Deadliest.

The late conservationist’s death is considered the only fatality from a stingray that was captured on video. The attack was notably unprovoked.