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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.
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By Tetsuhiko Endo, editor of The Inertia
On Friday, June 10th the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office released the toxicology report for Philip Andrew “Andy” Irons. It states that his primary cause of death was a sudden cardiac arrest associated with coronary artery disease with a 70-80 percent stenosis (abnormal narrowing) of one of his arteries. It further states that his secondary cause of death was “acute mixed drug ingestion.” According to the report, the following drugs were found either on his person or in his system: Alprazolam (Xanax), Zolpidem (Ambien), cannabinoids (marijuana), naproxen (anti-inflammatory), cocaethylene (a chemical produced in the body when cocaine and alcohol are mixed that’s linked to causing heart attacks in people under forty), methamphetamine, methadone, and cocaine. The report includes a lengthy “comments” section explaining how cocaine and methadone can impede the work of the heart—thereby making their presence in Irons’ body “significant.” It concludes with the following: “the primary and underlying cause of death is ischemic heart disease due to coronary artery pathology (heart disease). Drugs however, particularly, methadone and cocaine, are other significant conditions contributing to death but not resulting in the underlying cause.”
Some, like Dr. Vincent Di Maio, an award-winning forensic expert and media stalwart hired by the Irons family, believe that drugs did not contribute to Irons’ death. Others, like the numerous doctors anecdotally consulted for this piece, side with the medical examiners in Tarrant County citing the myriad and well-documented ways that prolonged drug use can debilitate the heart. In life, Irons’ rock star combination of savant surfing and personal brashness polarized the surfing community like few other public figures, so it is grimly fitting that his death should do the same.
The premature death of a famous and monetarily influential person is always a tragedy, but never just a tragedy. It is many things to many people: a PR nightmare, the scoop of a lifetime, an inconvenience for a tour that seeks legitimacy, the instant canonization of his legend, a damning comment on celebrity culture, a cautionary tale, the tragic loss of a father, brother, husband and son, an ode to self destruction, an episode better left forgotten, an opportunity to change.
- Mary Anne Potts
Jul 24, 2024 · Andy Irons was a wild, unorthodox rock star, a power surfer with a fearless, raw talent. He will always be remembered as a ferocious, radical free surfer and ruthless competitor with a daunting dark side.
Oct 5, 2020 · The story of Andy Irons is part-triumph, part-tragedy. A tortured soul, who spent the majority of his life battling the demons of bipolar disorder and drug addiction, he still managed to become world champion three times and gave the state of Hawaii a hero to be proud of.
Oct 15, 2016 · Andy: The Untold Story of Andy Irons, a new documentary from Teton Gravity Research, comes six years after the surfer's death in a Dallas hotel room. Irons died of a heart attack caused by drug overdose.
Nov 9, 2010 · At the end of October, Irons pulled out of a contest in Puerto Rico through illness, and was treated at a hospital in Miami for dengue fever, a condition he had already beaten once before.
Andy Irons, in his first quarter-century, won three World Titles. In the history of the sport only three others have achieved similar records. Add a #1 Surfer Poll Award, SIMA’s Waterman of the Year, and 20 WCT victories.
