Andy Irons

Philip Andrew Irons (July 24, 1978 – November 2, 2010) was an American professional surfer.

Irons began surfing with his brother Bruce on the shallow and dangerous waves of Kauai, Hawaii, before being spotted by a local surfboard brand and flown to North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii, to compete and develop his skill.

Over the course of his professional career, he won three world titles (2002, 2003, 2004), three Quiksilver Pro France titles (2003, 2004, 2005), two Rip Curl Pro Search titles (2006 and 2007), and 20 elite-tour victories, including the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing four times from 2002 to 2006.

He won at nearly every venue on the ASP calendar, only missing Gold Coast, Brazil, and Portugal.

His younger brother, Bruce Irons, is a former competitor on the World Championship Tour of Surfing.

During his childhood, Andy regularly lost to Bruce in contests, but that changed once he entered the World Championship Tour.

During his professional career, he won three world titles (2002, 2003, 2004), three Quiksilver Pro France titles (2003, 2004, 2005), two Rip Curl Pro Search titles (2006 and 2007) and 20 elite-tour victories, including the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing four times from 2002 to 2006.

The 2005 movie Blue Horizon (directed by surfing filmmaker Jack McCoy) paralleled his life on the WCT tour with that of free surfer David Rastovich.

Irons married Lyndie Dupuis on November 25, 2007, in Princeville, Kauai.

She was seven months pregnant with their first child at the time of his death.

He was inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame in Huntington Beach, California, in 2008.

The Governor of Hawaii declared February 13 forever "Andy Irons Day".

Billabong produced an Andy Irons line of board shorts.

In 2009, Irons withdrew from doing the full ASP World Tour season for personal reasons, though he did participate in a few events.

In 2009, Irons Brothers Productions released A fly in the champagne, a documentary of the rivalry that arose between Irons and Slater in the early 2000s.

The movie ends with a trip to Indonesia Kelly Slater and Andy Irons went on together.

On September 3, 2010, he won the Billabong Pro Teahupoo in Tahiti.

He requested a wildcard entry for the 2010 ASP World Tour season, which was granted by ASP President Wayne Bartholomew.

As a result, Irons did not have to re-qualify in 2010 via the World Qualifying Series (WQS).

Irons won the Billabong Pro Tahiti 2010.

Irons died on November 2, 2010.

He was found by two hotel staff lying in bed on his back with the sheets pulled up to his chin after he had failed to respond to knocks on the door and they went in to investigate.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office concludes that Irons died from a cardiac arrest due to a severe blockage of a main artery of the heart.

The official autopsy report lists also a second cause of death as "acute mixed drug ingestion", listing alprazolam, methadone, benzoylecgonine (a metabolite of cocaine), and traces of methamphetamine as the drugs found in Andy's body at the time of his death.

Initial press releases cited Dengue fever as the cause of Irons' death; however, the autopsy report conducted by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office were negative for Dengue and other flavivirus.

It is unclear why rumors that Dengue fever contributed to Irons' death proliferated.

In response to Irons' death, a World Championship Tour event in Puerto Rico was postponed for two days with competitors holding a "paddle out" memorial service for Irons.

Irons had withdrawn from the event citing ill health and was flying back to his home in Hawaii during a stopover in Grapevine, Texas, near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

He had reportedly stopped in Miami after leaving Puerto Rico, and early reports said he was put on a saline drip.

He was reported to have been vomiting on the Hawaii-bound plane before being removed prior to takeoff.

In the days immediately following his death, it was reported that in Dallas, an extremely ill Irons had attempted to board his connecting flight to Honolulu at 11:30 a.m. but was turned away at an American Airlines gate—a claim the company denies.

A memorial service was held November 14, 2010, in Hanalei Bay, Kauai.

His wife, Lyndie, and brother, Bruce, scattered his ashes outside Hanalei Bay, where thousands of family, friends, and admirers said their last goodbyes.

Friend and rival surfer Kelly Slater dedicated his November 6, 2010, victory to Irons.

"I just want to send my condolences to Andy's family," Slater said:

Lyndie gave birth to their son, Andy Axel Irons, in Kauai on the opening day of the Pipeline Masters in Memory of Andy Irons on December 8, 2010.

Lyndie and Axel continue to live on Kauai, where she and Andy shared a home.

Slater also wrote a candid remembrance honoring the life of Andy Irons on the anniversary of his death; it was also the same day that Slater claimed his 11th ASP World Title in San Francisco.

The 2018 movie Andy Irons: Kissed by God (directed by adventure-sport documentarians Steve and Todd Jones) is about the three-time world champion who died at 32 after a lifelong struggle with bipolar disorder and addiction.

The film features in-depth interviews with Andy's brother Bruce Irons, his wife Lyndie Irons, Joel Parkinson, Nathan Fletcher, Sunny Garcia, and Kelly Slater.