Bindi Irwin has shared a touching tribute in honour of her late father, Steve Irwin, on what would have been his 60th birthday.
On 22 February, Irwin, 23, posted a photo of herself, as a child, with her dad, along with a heartwarming message on social media.
“Happy Birthday to the greatest dad and Wildlife Warrior,” the Crikey! It’s the Irwins star wrote in an Instagram post. “Today I’ll watch ‘The Crocodile Hunter’ with Grace Warrior and share stories about her incredible Grandpa Crocodile.”
“I love you with all my heart,” she added. “Your legacy lives on.”
Last month, Irwin also paid tribute to her father and daughter, Grace, who she shares with her husband Chandler Powell, with photos of her latest tattoo. On her arm, she has a tattoo of an alligator along with the phrase “graceful warrior” next to it.
“The words I spoke to our daughter as I held her for the first time in my arms were, ‘My graceful warrior,’” she explained in an Instagram post. “That’s how her name was born. This is my dad’s handwriting to keep him with me, always. Our dear alligator, Daisy, is next to these words to represent our conservation work as Wildlife Warriors.”
“Validation every day of the three most important things in my life: family, purpose and unconditional love,” she added.
Shortly after Grace was born, Irwin spoke about how difficult it is to think about how Grace will never meet her grandfather, who died in 2006 after being pierced by a stingray while filming a documentary.
“It’s hard knowing that she’ll never get to actually meet him and it’s devastating because I’ll never get to watch their connection,” she explained to Entertainment Tonight last April. “But, I can not wait to be able to tell beautiful Grace all of these stories about dad, to be able to share with her what an amazing father he was.”
And while he never got to meet Grace, Irwin knows that Steve would have had so much love for her.
“It’s hard that he’s not here because out of everyone in the world, gosh, he would have loved her the most,” Irwin added. “He would have loved her so much. But I think in a way he is still with us.”
