Bindi Irwin Reveals How She Talks To Daughter Grace About Steve Irwin
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00 So what does it mean for you to be honored tonight for your advocacy and for sharing your decade-long battle with endometriosis?
00:06 Well firstly, thank you so much. It means the world to be here tonight.
00:10 I honestly if you had asked me a couple years ago if I would be standing here, I wouldn't have believed you in a million years.
00:20 Endometriosis was taking over my life and every day felt like just getting one foot in front of the other.
00:28 And now to be on the other side of surgery, the gratitude that I feel in my heart is overwhelming.
00:36 To be here tonight at the Blossom Ball celebrating the wins for endometriosis,
00:42 but also to bring awareness for girls and women around the world who are in desperate, desperate need of treatment and care and validation.
00:54 That's why we're all here.
00:56 So you sharing your own story has helped so many people.
00:58 So for you, how do you quantify that impact that you've had just by being so transparent?
01:04 Oh, I can't believe it. I am floored. I never imagined that my story would reach so many people.
01:12 But I really just hope that maybe someone out there will see my story, hear my story, and say,
01:20 "Oh my goodness, that girl has the exact same journey as me. Her pain mirrors mine."
01:25 I had no idea what was wrong with me for 10 years. I just had unexplained pain and nausea and fatigue.
01:32 And it wasn't until my friend Leslie reached out to me and said, "I think my journey mimics yours,"
01:38 that I even knew what endometriosis was.
01:41 So it just goes to show that there needs to be more awareness.
01:44 And hopefully, as a family, as a team, we'll be able to raise more awareness and just get women the help that they need.
01:52 Oh my goodness, it is devastating that it takes so many years for this disease to be diagnosed.
02:00 On average, it takes upwards of seven years. And that is truly shocking.
02:05 So hopefully, bit by bit, we'll be able to raise more awareness.
02:09 But also, the care needs to be there as well.
02:13 More doctors need the tools to be able to help diagnose and hear women and their stories and understand their pain.
02:21 Absolutely. And you talked about how you actually lost your sense of humor and your joy.
02:26 You asked how bad the pain was. How did your family help bring that back?
02:29 I feel so much joy now in my life. My brother's here too. Come here, brother.
02:34 How you doing?
02:35 I was just saying that I have so much joy again.
02:37 It was strange when I went through my journey.
02:42 As time went on, it hurt to laugh. And I didn't want anyone to hug me because it hurt everywhere.
02:50 It was so painful. And after surgery, as I've started to heal, it's so nice because I can belly laugh again without wincing in pain.
02:59 And the world feels brighter. And it means so much to be able to laugh with my family again, to run around with my daughter.
03:07 It's so special. So it's those little things that you get back that you don't really realize have been missing for so long.
03:15 So I'm just so grateful.
03:17 And we've got our Bindi back, which is awesome. We all do.
03:20 It's hard to see someone that you love and care about on the decline.
03:25 But when you finally started finding answers, there's just these little glimmers of hope.
03:29 And now you're a new person, but you're also helping to allow others to have that light bulb moment.
03:39 Because in Australia, it's still something that's not really talked about.
03:42 Endometriosis is not common knowledge.
03:44 So I feel like my place is a supporter of you and also as a male, as a man, to say this is a topic we all need to discuss, men included.
03:54 We need to get the word out. And I'm so proud of you, Bindi.
03:57 I've never been prouder to call you my sister. That's for sure.
04:00 I love that. And Terry, what was it like watching Bindi endure and ultimately overcome this battle?
04:05 And how proud are you of her tonight?
04:07 I'm very, very proud of Bindi. And I think for all of the advocacy that she did for herself and is now doing for others, it's very admirable.
04:17 So I'm really proud of her. She never gave up. And she persevered until she found the help she needed.
04:24 And I think we do a lot of conservation work in countries like Africa, countries in Indonesia.
04:31 And I think the medical profession needs all the support they can get to be able to help women who don't have cutting edge medical facilities like we have here in New York.
04:42 Absolutely. And Bindi, was there a point, you talk about how bad the pain was, was there a point where you were worried that you wouldn't survive, that you wouldn't get through it?
04:50 Daily. Every day I would wake up and wonder how I was going to get up and take on the day.
04:57 And I think that's something that we don't talk about a lot. Endometriosis is unbelievably painful, but it can also feel very lonely.
05:06 I was told by quite a few doctors that it's hormones, it's in your head. And that feeling that it's all made up, that my pain doesn't exist, that's what eats away at you.
05:21 And some days I wasn't sure how I was going to do it, but to be honest, my brother, my mum, my husband, my daughter, they are the people that got me through it.
05:33 I kept going for them and kept looking for answers for them. And I think that more people need that support and that strength.
05:42 They gave me strength when I didn't have my own. So we all need that group and circle to love you unconditionally and to be there side by side as you search for answers.
05:54 Because it can feel lonely and it can feel scary. The scariest for me was going in for surgery because I was terrified that they weren't going to find anything.
06:05 Because my endometriosis didn't show up on any scan, MRI, CT, ultrasound, nothing. And then I was facing this huge surgery wondering what would happen if they didn't find anything.
06:20 That was the scariest. But you have to believe in yourself and you have to stay strong and stay the course. Because everybody deserves to feel good when they love and to like getting hugs from the ones that you love.
06:35 We all deserve to feel well. So keep fighting for answers.
06:39 I love that. And you brought up Grace. We need the Grace update. She just turned three. Happy birthday to her. What's the latest milestone?
06:46 Oh my goodness. She loves dancing so much. She has just started dance class and her favorite thing in the world is wearing tutus and going in and dancing with her friends.
07:01 But she is the kid that runs around dancing naming the animals that she's dancing like. So she dances like a giraffe or like a butterfly and everyone goes that's the kid from the zoo for sure.
07:13 Because she's our little zoologist. But it's very sweet. So yes, dance class is our latest and greatest and she has so much fun with all of her friends.
07:22 She's amazing at it. You can tell that she takes after a Dancing with the Stars champion. Because she's three and she gets out there and she's pasadoblaying pretty much. I mean it is amazing.
07:34 She does. She gets into it. Like a giraffe.
07:37 Yeah, like a giraffe though. The old giraffe pasadoblay. Goes alright.
07:42 You recently said how you would beg your mom growing up to watch your favorite show which were the Daddy Docs you called them. Daddy Docos. Is that a tradition you're continuing with Grace?
07:53 It absolutely is. It absolutely is. And often we'll all go over to Bunny's house which is Grandmother's house. So Grace's name for her grandmother is Bunny.
08:03 We'll all go over and we'll turn on a documentary of Dad and it's amazing how Grace gravitates toward that. She really does.
08:11 But you know what's the most meaningful thing ever? Sometimes there'll be really early footage of Dad doing something cool. You know catching a croc or whatever.
08:18 And she'll go oh look it's Uncle Robert. And we'll go no, no, no. That's your grandpa. That's the most meaningful thing. Isn't that amazing how she does that?
08:27 But she makes that correlation. When she sees Dad I think she really, she knows. She realizes that he's part of everything.
08:38 Because his presence is still felt so fully in our household and at Australia Zoo. And she's just the next generation of wildlife warriors.
08:47 Dad would be incredibly proud of her and he's still very much part of her life and part of ours.
08:52 We wanted to make sure she grew up knowing Dad. We wanted to make sure that she got to experience those stories and his passion and his determination.
09:02 And I think the cutest thing is hearing Grace say crikey and danger, danger, danger. She gets so into it and mimics him. It's the sweetest thing ever.
09:13 So then we have to get the plush croc out and she has to jump on it and get the satellite tracker on. It is hilarious.
09:20 She's a good croc catcher. She is. She really is. It may be a plush croc but.
09:25 Only plush for now but it's good. I see good things in her future.
09:29 And look before I let you go, one last thing because Robert started moonlighting as a supermodel now so I need to know.
09:36 What are your thoughts? What have you got? Definitely rocking it Robert. Who knew? Who knew that under the khaki beat the heart of a supermodel?
09:51 Under all that khaki there was fashion. Fashion darling. I never thought this would be what I'd be doing but through a lot of different projects I've been doing recently and the fashion week and what not.
10:04 I've ended up becoming the fashionable Erwin and I'm embracing it. I love a tuxedo. Who would have thought?
10:12 What's more nerve wracking, walking the runway or having the crocodile chase you?
10:16 The runway is way more scary than crocodiles. 100%. I'll give it a go but I'll still take a croc any day mate.
10:24 [Music]