Andy Irons: Kissed by God(2018)

Plot Summary

• Bruce Irons, Andy's younger brother, sits in front of a black backdrop to delivery Andy Iron's eulogy and says he never thought he'd have to tell this story. But the more he recounts, the more inevitable the outcome seems. Andy and Bruce Irons grew up on Kauai, the towheaded sons of a dad who surfed before it was trendy and a mother whose relatives were all skiers. They got their own surfboards for Christmas around first grade; before high school, sponsors came calling. Kelly Slater's Black and White video inspired Andy. While the boys were still in high school, they were getting sponsorships and dad would fly them to Oahu for the big competitions for the weekend and they come back to school on Monday. By 17, Andy was making $120,000 from just one brand, and was traveling the world for competitions. Both handsome and physically gifted, the boys competed fiercely and sometimes beat up on each other. Bruce calls it an "interesting relationship". It's not certain at what point it became clear that Andy's success would overshadow that of his brother. A rowdy social environment that engulfed both young men: Part of a huge crew of Hawaiian surf bros was known as the Wolfpak. Andy brought buddies on tour with them and often partied all night. Some more well-behaved surfers marvel, in retrospect, that Andy was able to surf in the mornings after drinking and doing drugs until dawn. Foreign substances weren't the only thing keeping Andy unstable. He'd had learning disabilities since childhood that made him feel stupid; he was impossible to control in class and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder. By the time he was on the ASL World Tour, those around him knew that, as one puts it, he could be "chill and cool" one minute and "gnarly and high-strung" the next. Some poignant interview footage finds Andy in troughs of depression, trying to cope with the stresses of this intense time. Waves were an almost guaranteed, albeit temporary, cure for Irons' mood swings. From the time of his parents' divorce through the intensity of fame, surfing was a refuge where all he thought about was the next wave. Watching as he glides effortlessly through one barrel after another, it's easy to believe that was true. Andy Irons got on the world tour with the top 32 surfers in the world. His first season he partied all night felt in the 30th ranking. At his first pro tour event in Australia, he loses, dyes his hair, pulls down all the shades in his hotel thinking people are out there to get him. What's discovered is that he had bipolar disorder major swings from depression to mania. His family had to pull him off the tour and take him home. In 1999 on his 21st birthday he was drinking Jack Daniels in Indonesia and snorted a line of morphine. He ended up in an ambulance having flat lined for 8 minutes, near death, and waking up in the ICU. His brother gives credit to the ocean for helping balance out his chemical imbalance. Then for a while, everything came together in his brain like a Rubik's cube, and he went from being a total idiot to winning everything. One year away from being near death, he the world title in 2002. That is kind of extremes Andy would experience throughout his life. He was "the people's champion" willing to share to success with the Wolfpak and the island of Kauai. During this time, he met Lyndie Dupuis who became his companion on the tour. Andy Irons fell in love with her almost immediately. Andy's main rival on the tour was with Kelly Slater. Slater was the prototypical nice guy while Andy was a loose cannon without a consistent personality. The tour championship in 2003 came down to the final event at Pipeline after Slater and Irons took turns winning all season. When irons won his second consecutive title, Kelly Slater was visibly rattled and began to rethink his approach to surfing. Andy Irons won the world tour championship again in 2004, his third consecutive title. The 2005 world title came down to a contest at Jeffreys Bay in South Africa. In the final wave of the day, Kelly Slater got a score he may not have deserved after falling in the 5th turn he performed on the ride in, but the title was Slaters. Andy lost respect for the scoring process that day. His wife said that contest started his downfall. From that point, Andy didn't care so much anymore and started partying, not surfing, and going into vacation mode. Bi polar disorder is mostly depression and those victim to it will do all kinds of things to relieve the anxiety. Andy Irons progressed from weed to drinking to cocaine to a variety of pills ultimately getting hooked on opioids. Everything in his life got scheduled around the need for that pill. His brother claims that at the Rip Curl Pro Search surfing contest in Chile in 2007, Andy won while being high on coke and pills the entire time. After that contest, Bruce and Andy were alone drinking and doing substances. It was then Andy told his brother that there's no fear in dying. He said when he was dead on the table in Indonesia he could see himself above the bed and that he didn't really want to go back to his body. After this, Billabong sent him to rehab three times. He was good for eight or nine months putting most of his energy into his relationship with Lyndie. It was then Andy married Lyndie, but wanted the party to continue. He disappeared for 2 days after his wedding. Andy began to doubt himself and spent two months straight in his condo before he disappeared. He was found on a bare mattress barely alive.In 2009 Andy and Lyndie went to Australia to regroup. Lyndie got pregnant and Andy became the old Andy putting in the work, training and surfing. Andy had a goal to get one more win in a competition before he quit. In 2010, in Tahiti, that goal became a reality. Andy won the surfing tournament there and was on top of the world as his wife was expecting their first child.On the trip to Mexico the dark side took over again. Andy said he had chest pains before his trip to Puerto Rico. Andy was a reluctant traveler and never made it to the surfing contest as he was going through drug withdrawals.On October 31, 2010, Andy spent a six hour layover in Miami on his way home from Puerto Rico partying with friends. In the morning hours of November 1st, he flew from Miami to Dallas on his way home to Hawaii but said he was quite ill. He did not board the connecting flight to Hawaii and checked into a hotel in Dallas. He went to sleep and never woke up in the Texas hotel. The coroner said he died of a heart attack associated with drug use. On November 14, 2010, at Hanalei Bay in Kauai the area surfers had a traditional paddle out to say good bye. Shortly after his death his wife gave birth to their son Axel.

Storyline

• A film about bipolar disorder and opioid addiction as seen through the life of three-time world champion surfer Andy Irons. Andy struggled with the same demons that millions of people worldwide battle with daily. Andy was an incredible presence on the world stage as the "People's Champion." He was the pride of Hawaii and revered around the world for his blue collar rise to fame and success. However, many were unaware of his internal battles that led to his demise. As the opioid crisis rises to a national emergency in the United States, the untold story of Andy's life serves to tear down the myths associated with these two ferocious diseases. — Teton Gravity Research