Bindi just turned 16...
Bindi Irwin was only eight years old when her father, Crocodile Hunter star Steve Irwin, was killed by a stingray barb in a tragic accident in 2006. The now 16-year-old Bindi recently opened up to People magazine about what it's like to grow up without her father, and how she plans to keep his memory alive.
"I remember after we lost Dad, so many adults came up to me and said, 'Honey, time heals all wounds,'" Bindi told the magazine. "That is the biggest lie you will ever hear. It doesn't. That kind of sadness never goes away. It's like losing a piece of your heart that you never get back."
Bindi Irwin just turned 16 years old. (Twitter)
Bindi, who, along with her little brother Robert was raised by her mother Terri, now lives and works at the Australia Zoo. She is a spokesperson for SeaWorld parks, and says she hopes to keep her father's memory alive.
"When you lose a loved one, you come to these crossroads," she said. "You can take the path that leads you down the aisle of sadness, or you can say, 'I'm never going to let this person's memory die. I'm going to make sure everything they worked for continues.'"
The late Steve Irwin is shown with his wife Terri and a young Bindi. (WENN)
Bindi has done her best to protect her father's legacy. After the cameraman that was present when Steve died gave an account of what happened to a news media outlet, Bindi lashed out, calling his comments "hurtful." Bindi told Who magazine that she refused to listen to the cameraman's interview.
"For as long as I live, I'll never listen to it. It's wrong as a family for us to hear about it," she said.
\While she may be a conservationist and an advocate for her family, she is still a normal 16-year-old girl. On Wednesday she excitedly shared on Twitter that she had passed her driver's license test.
"Every day is a new journey for me," she told People."I feel like in my lifetime, I've been blessed to experience such a lot."
