It’s been over 13 years since surfing legend Andy Irons tragically passed away at the age of 32 during a layover in a Texas hotel room.
He had three world titles and four Triple Crown championships behind him, and a baby on the way.
In his last interview ever on record below, Irons speaks candidly and lets the world in. Check it out.
The short video features Irons’ surfing, but more importantly, he speaks straight from the heart.
Captioning it, Real Surf Stories wrote that he “talks about getting ready to make a comeback, competing against Kelly Slater, why he surfs, how surfing is the only thing that can keep him on track, and remembers his first wave.”
Opening the footage, Irons says:
“When I was young and I surfed, I surfed because Kelly Slater did it. I surfed because it was hype, I surfed because it got chicks, I surfed because it was the party, I surfed because it got the cool car. And I got all those cool things, and they’re all just stuff. But the first wave is the reason why I think everyone keeps going back.”
He continues:
“I have a lot of inner demons, if I didn’t have surfing to get those out of my system, I would self-destruct. Surfing’s the only thing that keeps me going in a normal state, that keeps on life on an even keel, without it would just tip into oblivion.”
Sadly, the self-destruction was real.
The caption continues:
“Irons died on November 2, 2010, during a stopover in Grapevine, Texas, near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
“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 a second cause of death as “acute mixed drug ingestion”, listing alprazolam, methadone, benzoylecgonine, and traces of methamphetamine as the drugs found in Andy’s body at the time of his death.”
Press play for more.
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