ANDY IRONS: RIP

[kirk]

So sad to lose someone so young so early.... Maybe Andy's death will give more publicity to this disease to push along a cure or at least make the public more aware of treatment and symptoms when traveling.

[quote="gregorvass"]

[hemmy007]

There are lots of questions and few answers at this time.

Most of the 'real' story will come out in the next couple months.
What is known now is this is a huge loss for the surfing world
especially for HI and the outer island wolf pack.

My parents lived on the same island as the Irons brothers for a number of years and I had the privilege to see both brothers surf in the most dangerous & out of control conditions.

And they made it look easy, which the ultimate definition of style.
These two brothers are KINGS at their outer island breaks and
AI will never be replaced.

Pipemaster, 4x Triple Crown Champion and 3x World Champion.
Three feet of thirty, AI would be on the peak
and going for the biggest set waves.

However, his death at the DFW airport leaves many more questions.
If he had Dengue fever, it is curious that he would be allowed to travel home to HI (about 24 hour trip with three or more connections) BY HIMSELF.

More over, it is shocking that his sponsor did not get more involved after he was pulled from the PR contest b/c he was too sick to surf and had to be sent home.

Why did they NOT drop the 20K and get a netjets or one of their corporate jets to take him home? Billabong is a very large, multi-national public company. AI was one of the top stars on their surf team and the only one they had on the team that had the apex contest and ASP winning record, and AI was in the middle of a huge comeback (winning in September at End of the Road)...

They OWED him that respect and support after earning the company tens of millions of dollars in the last ten years. Again, if he was that sick, he might not have been the best person to make all these decisions and that is why he needed to have a DR. or team/family member traveling with him and to have other medical and corporate people involved in his trip home.

Staying at the hospital in MIA (he was there for a day or so in IV drip) or DFW until he was well enough to travel would have been the best call to deal with the DF. These are two of the best cities for the treatment of tropical infections based on the fact that these two airports are the gateways to Central and South America. Going home to HI and his local doctor might have seemed like the most appealing decision to someone who was very ill and homesick for his family, but it was not the best clinical decision.

These are the question that I fear will never be answered.
Very sad set of circumstances that ended in this tragedy.

However, the details of his death at the DFW airport will be answered in the coming months and I fear that it was not just the DF that killed him.

Dengue fever is often called "break bone" fever based on the deep bone pain that is nearly unbearable. So if AI had pain & sleep medications, he might have taken them, and assuming he really was ill with late stage DF, he might of accidentally taken too much. Or he could have taken the prescribed dose and due to the water & weight loss of the weeks fighting DF he was much more susceptible to the effects of these combined medications.
I know someone who was sick with DF recently and they lost over 20lbs in the weeks they were sick after spending almost two weeks in the hospital. Since AI had over a day of drip IV in MIA hospital the day before he checked into the hotel in DFW, we know that he was very dehydrated which would have greatly contributed to this medication problem when combined with the associated weight loss.

Yes, technically, even a young guy CAN die from DF, but it is most often older, very young, very week and people with auto immune problems that die from DF.

That said, almost 100k people in the US die EVERY YEAR from prescription medication misuse & various drug interactions that are not well understood or researched by the medical community and completely unknown to people who have been prescribed these medications.

In his weaken state of late stage and not treated DF,
AI was at the nadir of his sickness,
sapped of his energy and he just faded away.

It will be known soon enough, but this will be no consolation to his family and the people that loved him in HI and around the world for his style, courage, and surfing.

Via con dios AI.
You will be missed by your family and
friends around the world,
never to be replaced.

[pacspeed]

If I had to guess, I'd say it was probably a combination of all the above factors. I'm sure every one of us can relate to the scenario:
Young, tough athlete feels like hell, but he's coming off a long trip, 12 time zone jet lag, shitty food, probably partying, so he figures he'll stick it out until he's home. After all, who are you gonna contact for health care services between Sao Paolo and DFW? It's hard enough to see your doctor at home. Nothing out of the ordinary. We've all been there.
But another day or two goes by, and in the worst sort of environment: air travel. Dehydrating, no sleep, exposure to all kinds of other bugs, etc etc. Powers a couple packets of aspirin that the stew gave him, maybe a couple drinks and a vicodin left over from a surgery. But this time add a deadly tropical disease to the mix, and it's over the edge for our young hero.

Sincere condolences to his people. At least he lived more in his 30 something years than most drones would do in a thousand. RIP bro.

[insh8bl]

Hey gang, my understanding is that Andy had contracted dengue hemorrhagic fever, as opposed to dengue fever. The two diseases are different but caused by the same virus. With dengue hemorrhagic fever 50% of all patients who do not seek medical care die. Andy was a phenomenal surfer, his passing is sad, irrespective of the cause.

[nw30]

Here's a pretty cool clip that was put together, for those who haven't seen it~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wtz1RmoBCUM&feature=player_embedded

[kirk]

Some good shots here
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1326539/Andy-Irons-Investigators-methadone-room-died.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

They had a short article in this week's Sports Illustrated that said the authorities found methadone in his luggage. That story above said

[nw30]

They are going on old information, the Dallas cops have already retracted the Methadone story, they found Ambien and Xanax.