Official Irons Family Statement

[HotTate]

Click the Link

[BS720]

I'm calling horseshit. The guy had three drugs in his system, and was a known rager. MI? At 32? Dude just partied too hard. I understand that the family wants kids to keep buying his products, but call it like it is.

[boltonoutlaw]

Whatever.

We are hoping that people will remember Andy for his very full life, which included his intense passion for surfing and the ocean, his astonishing achievements as a world-class athlete, and his devotion to the family and friends who love him dearly and miss him every day.

[Hugh Conway]

lulz. the 2nd delay was requested:

“so that Plaintiff can issue any appropriate press releases explaining the conclusions and the impact of the autopsy and squelch any false rumors based upon a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the autopsy.”

and now it's back to glossing over all the lives surfing's chewed up.

[ill-advised strategy]

I'm calling horseshit.

Thanks for posting. Indeed, your vague sense that he died from "raging" is much more valuable to me (and I'm sure many others reading this) than this worthless detailed description of the autopsy and his history leading up to death.

[ilikecandy]

Thanks for posting. Indeed, your vague sense that he died from "raging" is much more valuable to me (and I'm sure many others reading this) than this worthless detailed description of the autopsy and his history leading up to death.

you mean the description saying "we shopped around till we could find a doctor who would say a bunch of coke had nothing to do with a 32 year old having a heart attack"?

hugh, showing he doesnt understand anything outside the trust fund world he grew up in

[ill-advised strategy]

Right...and the value of highly speculative shitting on a deceased surfer is exactly what?

[Hugh Conway]

Right...and the value of highly speculative shitting on a deceased surfer is exactly what?

meh, he charged, it's how he surfed and would seem lived, not shitting on him. Dying alone in an airport hotel is the shitty part.

[BS720]

Right...and the value of highly speculative shitting on a deceased surfer is exactly what?

You're totally right. I am sorry and I retract my previous statement. People that are superstars in a sport are totally absolved of any responsibility to be a role model for upcoming athletes and the youth of today. He's a goddamn amazing surfer, and he had many chronic illnesses that warranted the use of METHADONE. I should never have said that his death was drug related, because he's a SURFER, and is beyond criticism.

My favorite AI story was the boat trip in the Mentawais where they couldn't wake his up for 13 hours.

[HotTate]

Having trouble understanding this whole concept...
like... it wasn't the bullet that killed him. he died because he bleed to death.
or
he was in a car accident and lived. but died 12 hours later from internal bleeding.
or
he was stung by a bee, but he died because he couldn't get to his epi pen.

so, he was on a bunch of drugs, but he died because his heart couldn't take it anymore?

[Skibum2]

Pretty simple conclussion to me. AI partied hard and died young as a consequence. This is nothing new ie., Joplin, Morrison, Hendrix, Belushi, etc, etc.

Tragic and a bummer for sure.

[ill-advised strategy]

You're totally right. I am sorry and I retract my previous statement. People that are superstars in a sport are totally absolved of any responsibility to be a role model for upcoming athletes and the youth of today. He's a goddamn amazing surfer, and he had many chronic illnesses that warranted the use of METHADONE. I should never have said that his death was drug related, because he's a SURFER, and is beyond criticism.

My favorite AI story was the boat trip in the Mentawais where they couldn't wake his up for 13 hours.

Did you read the part about his diagnosis of bipolar disorder? WTF do you think that involves, bad moods and good moods? Frowny face and a smiley face? People become significantly manic, people become profoundly depressed. It's the nature of the disease.

I suggest we start screening everyone who surfs on the ASP to be sure nobody with a genetic predisposition for atherosclerosis/chf is ever again in the position of "role model to our precious youth." We can't have anyone showing these children it's possible to go enjoy yourself. Straighten up and fly right!

won't someone please think of the children! The children!! We sure can't have our children exposed to real people with actual problems. Avert your eyes precious children, a man with bipolar disorder and peripheral vascular disease is surfing! Look away!!!

[Microcosm]

He had issues. psychological at first, and eventually translating over to drug use/ abuse I guess. (?) I would agree with those that are saying this is being glossed over.

Whether you agree or disagree about what kind of issues Andy had, obviously something was happening or he would still be alive today. I will remember him for his surfing, as I'm sure everyone will. But if we don't also call into question what kind of problems he had been dealing with, how are we learning anything from this tragedy? It doesn't make him any less of a man or any less of an amazing surfer to admit he struggled through life. To ignore what happened is a slight to the surfing community.

[ill-advised strategy]

What his family chooses to say about their dead relative is their business. They don't owe anyone a debt, they don't have to say anything; let alone say what you think they should say. They don't owe you or anyone anything. They get to choose what to say or not say, what issues to address or not address. They get to decide whether or not to issue a statement which favors cynical guesswork about the pathology of his death. Not you. There are two medical opinions, both of which are discussed. You expect the man's family to jump on some bandwagon of dancing on his grave. Fuck off.

Have some common respect, not "for the dead" as we so often hear, but for the survivors. For the family. That's what I'm saying. Why try to cut somebody down for issuing a statement, try to level a bunch of criticism on the family for writing this up the way they see it? For what purpose?

It's callous and ignorant. It's the worst kind of douchery: picking on a dead man's widow and parents for issuing a forthright and honest statement. Come on.

[Microcosm]

Fair enough, I won't argue with that. It's a big loss for the family, and I hadn't thought enough into that.

Aand still, could you say no other surfer on the ASP tour is not struggling with any sort of issues? I'm saying that ultimately we may have to recognize these problems because athletes are people too, despite their superhuman talents.

[postman22]

Fair enough, I won't argue with that. It's a big loss for the family, and I hadn't thought enough into that.

Aand still, could you say no other surfer on the ASP tour is not struggling with any sort of issues? I'm saying that ultimately we may have to recognize these problems because athletes are people too, despite their superhuman talents.

WHO GIVES A SHIT if other surfers have drug problems. Have you ever been to any type of party before. There's going to be booze, there's going to be pot, there might be coke. I watch surfing because I like to watch surfing. I also like to surf. If Kelly Slater snorted heroin, I would still enjoy watching him. Kids are the major market for surfing, everyone gets that. As a kid when was the first time you were exposed to drugs, booze. Probably pretty f'ing early. You telling me that when you were 14 if you heard Andy Irons did drugs that would have really affected you. No you'd prob still go out there and surf as much as you could. You would still go to parties, and it would be your decision whether you wanted to get f'd up or not.

Look at the ski industry. The biggest morons out there including Tanner Hall smoke so much dope they can't string together two coherent sentences. Does that affect Armada, Red Bull or the thousands of kids that like watching him. NO!

People like getting fucked up, they like releasing stress. Some take it overboard, some don't. This has nothing to do with surfing, Andy Irons, billabong.

Andy was articulate in interviews, surfed insane, and everyone enjoyed watching him in his movies. Let the rest be. Maybe he died of a heart attack, maybe he didn't. Is that really going to affect your surfing. Oh wait.. right your from Burlington Vermont and have probably surfed 5 times in your life but think you have an opinion because you watch live ASP webcasts.

[Camilo]

Bad arteries + cocaine + severe dehydration = "Natural death?"
To me that sounds like a perfect recipe for a cardiac arrest. People have cardiac arrests with ONE of these ingredients.
Weird, but it doesn't seem like the family is trying to whitewash or sanitize his death. I wonder if all of this was done for insurance reasons.

[Hugh Conway]

People like getting fucked up, they like releasing stress. Some take it overboard, some don't. This has nothing to do with surfing, Andy Irons, billabong.

surfing has such a happy health history there's no problems with drugs in it. hard to watch a dead man surf, or the dude in jail, or the ones who've gone crazy. course a transplant stud like you knows that cold because you live in the surf mecca of vancouver

[TBS]

I am not a Dr., but this part seems rather telling:

Dr. Vincent Di Maio, a prominent forensic pathologist in San Antonio, TX, who has consulted on many high-profile cases, was asked to review and explain the autopsy results to the family. He states: “This is a very straightforward case. Mr. Irons died of a heart attack due to focal severe coronary atherosclerosis, i.e., ‘hardening of the arteries.’ He had an atherosclerotic plaque producing 70%-80% narrowing of his anterior descending coronary artery. This is very severe narrowing. A plaque of this severity, located in the anterior descending coronary artery, is commonly associated with sudden death.”

Whether his heart attack was brought on by use of coke/meth use 30 hrs prior, from ongoing use of Xanax, Ambien, from Typhoid Fever several years ago or from Influenza, it sure sounds like he was a heart attack waiting to happen.

Regardless, it's a sad situation, especially for his widow and the son who will grow up with this as his dad's legacy.

[stompinlines]

Anyone watch the HBO special, Drugs and Surfing?
Nice to see some transparency by Flea and Anthony Ruffo about
the rampant meth problems with surfers. The sponsors
can keep this problem quiet....until their athletes' tickers
pop.