The head of world surfing Brodie Carr was aware that Andy Irons had “inner demons” but says he knew nothing about drug taking.
The three-time surfing world champion passed away on Tuesday in Dallas and police are investigating whether he died of a methadone overdose.
Irons was honoured on Wednesday morning at Middles Beach in the Puerto Rican area of Aguadilla, where the Rip Curl Pro Search event is currently being held.
The world’s best surfers and hundreds of friends and support staff paddled out into the ocean, joined hands in a large circle and left flowers as tribute to someone who was described as a “tribesman” and “brother” to those on tour.
The 32-year-old, regarded as one of the greatest surfers in history, had admitted previously that he had fought inner demons and that if it wasn’t for surfing he might self-destruct.
Irons took a career break for the 2009 tour to sort through his personal issues, which rumour has suggested were related to drugs.
Carr, chief executive of the Association of Surfing Professionals, acknowledged he’d heard the speculation surrounding Irons’ past personal battles, but said he wasn’t sure if they involved drug use.
According to Carr, Irons had reached a “good place” after his time off, and had returned to the tour in 2010 as winner of the August Billabong Pro in Tahiti and was excited for the imminent birth of his first child.
“I read the reports from Hawaii and I think we might be jumping into unknown areas. Let’s wait and see what the autopsy says and out of respect to Andy I don’t really care how we passed, it’s tragic for us,” Carr said.
“He came out and said he had a lot of inner demons and he battled some things.
“I don’t know if Andy took drugs, but he was in a good place.
“He came out and he won Tahiti and he was in a good place and it was good to see him back on tour and back with his friends and with his family and I don’t want to jump into hypotheticals.”
Officials in Dallas said the cause of Irons’ sudden passing was not immediately known but Hawaii’s Star Advertiser reported that his death was being investigated as a possible overdose of methadone, citing information provided by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The Star Advertiser reported that methadone was found inside a container of prescription drugs called zolpidem, commonly used for insomnia, while methadone is a powerful controlled substance used for pain. The container, as well as numerous other medications, was found on a night stand, the medical examiner said.
Employees at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, reportedly found the Hawaiian’s body and called airport police on Tuesday.
Irons had checked into the hotel after withdrawing from the Rip Curl Pro days earlier due to severe illness.
Tiffany Watson’s Thought
OK so this type of thing really annoys me. This is someone who worked hard at his sport. So what if he took time off. Could the reason be just something so simple as he needed a break. What proof does anyone have that it was drugs. The other question is what drugs if there was any.
When I was swimming and yes I swam on average 12klms per day plus other excerise so I know what it takes to be good at a sport, I had to take time out for a three month period because of my health. By the way no it had nothing to do with drugs. I am looking forward to the day if it ever happens when the media stops making this crap up and starts to actually do real journalism.
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