Original subtitles

[footsteps approaching]

[lock clicking]

[wave crashing]

[Andy] You ever heard of being kissed by God?

This is pretty much what it is.

For those ten, three, two, one second,

it's like God came down and gave you a kiss.

And then you just chase that the whole rest of your life,

trying to get that first wave,

or that first barrel, or that first turn.

[all cheering]

And you get it sometimes, but you always are gonna go back and try to do it better,

and do it longer or do it higher,

or go farther...

And that's why I'm so lucky to have surfing.

Keeps me going in a normal state.

It keeps my life at an even keel.

Without it, it would just tip into oblivion.

So, it's just being kissed by God.

[sniffling]

[exhaling]

[clearing throat]

My name is Bruce [clears throat] My name is Bruce Irons.

Andy Irons was my brother.

[sighs]

This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

In my life, I never thought I'd be here,

having to talk about my brother.

But...

it is what it is, and here I go.

[sighs]

Who was Andy Irons?

Andy Irons, to me, was my older brother, my hero.

He is the person that made me who I am.

-Who is the man? Who is the man? -[all cheering]

My brother was a very interesting person.

You know, he had a lot of things going on in his mind.

Good and bad.

My brother was unorthodox, wild.

You never knew what you're gonna get.

Looking into the camera or looking at you?

[vocalizing exercises]

I'm Andy Irons, 27 years old,

been surfing for 20 years.

live on Hanalei, Kauai.

[man] Andy Irons, you have scored a perfect ten.

[indistinct chatter]

Surfing's my life. A hundred percent.

I live and breathe surfing.

[commentator] He's still going. Is he coming out? Yeah!

[Michael] Every generation of surfers has a pool of great talent.

But within that pool, we have, normally, one, maybe two,

who rise above and come to represent that era of surfing.

They define it.

[Kelly] Andy had something special inside him.

You know, Andy had something to prove.

[Bruce] One of the greatest, badass,

rags to riches, rockstar,

people's champion surfers that ever lived.

He came from nothing, and he never forgot that.

[all] Go, go!

[Bruce] You know, I don't think I ever told him enough,

how happy I was to be his younger brother,

to get to call him, Andy, my brother.

I love getting to say that, that Andy is my brother.

[indistinct chatter]

[all cheering]

[commentator] Ladies and gentlemen, Andy Irons...

[somber music playing]

[laughing] I haven't been here in a while.

But this is where

me and my brother used to spend most of our childhood.

It's a little different now, new people live here,

but for the most part, it's the same old shack.

Ah, it's...

[laughs]

It's different now, you know, but...

simple livings, you know.

Small little house, but this is all we knew.

Me and my brother loved this house, you know, it's all we needed.

[upbeat music playing]

You know what's fucked up? I really don't even know

how my mom and dad met. You know how fucked up that is.

But I know my dad came from Torrance, my mom came from Aspen.

They met here, and here I am.

You know, the whole surfing thing wasn't even a real thing yet.

You know, we were all considered kind of weird to be surfers.

[Phil] You know, "Why don't you play baseball or do something else?"

[laughs]

[Danielle] My father was a ski racer.

I have four brothers, and they were all ski racers.

They were all competitive, very, very competitive, like my father.

I moved here when I was 19.

That's what I was just here for a summer, and I met Phil.

I don't think my mother would've approved of his living situation.

[laughs]

[Phil] You know, I lived in a tent for almost two years.

You know, and all we ate was avocados, bananas,

you know, that kind of stuff, and brown rice.

You know, and it was just, all seemed about right.

That was pretty quick.

You know, here is Andy, who is not even a year and a half here,

and Bruce decides to come.

When we brought Bruce home, there was this really nice bassinet,

and he saw what was in there,

and he was just like, "Really? I don't think so."

And he just came over and tried to knock the whole thing over.

That's how Andy met Bruce.

[Phil] So they were a handful right from the start,

with both of them.[laughs]

[Bruce] We're like seven or eight,

Christmas comes around, and we got surfboards.

[Andy] First wave I ever caught, I remember it to this day,

clearest day. I went left, right, left.

And from that day on, I told my dad every night,

"I want to go surfing, I want to go surfing, I want to go surfing."

[Bruce] From that day, we're-- We're both hooked.

[exclaiming]

[laughing]

[Phil] So, talk about watching Bruce get good.

At what point did you start to think, "He's probably going to be as good as me"?

I already knew that from way before--

When we first started, he's always been pretty talented at whatever he does.

He's pretty much a freak.

I don't know, just practice lots, surf lots together,

and just, kind of, progressed.

[interviewer] Erm...

Okay. So, you want to say anything else about your brother before we leave that?

-You think you said enough? -[Bruce] I said enough.

-You did? -Yes.

Okay.

Do you love your brother?

Let's get off this question, get off this whole thing.

Let's answer a different question.

Do you love your brother?

-God! You guys! Stop this! -Okay.

[Bruce] Me and my brother had a really interesting relationship.

You know, we never showed

signs of affection or weakness towards each other.

Because that was the way we were raised,

and, you know, a lot of people saw me and my brother

as being real competitive, which we were.

You know, a lot of times, we were violent with each other,

but that's the way it was for me and my brother, growing up,

that's how we pushed each other.

But no matter how much me and my brother went at it, you know,

I never ever wanted to see him in pain or hurt.

That Christmas we got the surfboards,

that was sort of the last Christmas, I think, we were a family,

'cause my parents divorced after that.

[waves roaring]

It was actually kind of good,

'cause we didn't have to hear them fighting anymore, I guess.

I was younger, so, in my mind, I just,

I don't know, maybe I just blocked it out,

or maybe it affected my brother more, I don't know.

I don't know. He had a lot more shit going on in his head, I think,

than, you know, I ever knew.

But he wouldn't really talk to me about it.

[Clay] Andy had a psychological thing going on.

He could channel it in a positive way, or it could work against him sometimes.

There were numerous occasions where they would

actually call me out of my classroom in school

because the teacher or the principal could not control him.

You know, he just, he wouldn't listen. He'd wanna jump out the window,

or wanna fight back, I mean,

he's just, he's just a real strong-minded person.

[Tom] He had what was called reversals.

He'd see things-- B as a D...

or different letters in different ways.

You know, dyslexia is like that, you see things backwards.

If there was a genius, I think was that.

He did see things in a different way.

[Bruce] You know, he was in special ed,

he was even in it when he was in high school.

And I used to tease him about it.

[Danielle] Andy felt like he was just stupid.

So he would just say,

"I'm with all what everybody else says, like me, and I'm just stupid.

I can't learn."

And that broke my heart.

[Bruce] Not knowing how to express that feeling of,

"What the fuck's wrong with me?" and Why can't I do this?"

And then he didn't know how to properly ask the teachers.

He'd just snap out, and he had a real temper on him.

You know, I'm sure the divorce had a big part to play in that.

I know it did.

You know, he was bitter. Just like I was, you know?

My mom moved, like, right there, by my dad's house.

It was actually right across the street from Hanalei School.

You know, we could just walk straight from Hanalei School

like 100 yards to my dad's house, straight into the ocean.

[waves crashing]

Me and my brother would just surf, surf, surf,

and I think that's where we blocked out what was going on at home.

'Cause when you're out in the water,

you don't think about any of that shit at home.

That was probably the thing that saved us.

[Danielle] Andy loved the ocean always.

That was some place where, like sleep-- not even sleeping.

The water was where it was the most calm, his peaceful place.

When Kelly Slater in Black and Whitecame out,

that was the video that we watched over and over and over.

We'd watch that video, we'd go out,

and we'd try to surf, and try to do reverses,

and that's what he wanted to do.

He wanted to be on that TV.

That's where it all started.

[upbeat music playing]

[Bruce] We met Liam McNamara and Garrett,

and they rode for Willis Brothers Phasers.

You know, and they saw us surfing, called my dad up and went,

"Hey, I know you don't know us,

but your kids surf good,

and we want to sponsor them for Willis Brothers Surfboards."

"We'll fly them over to Oahu, we'll just take them surfing."

And my dad says, like, "All right."

They'll be on a flight.

[Dave] Most of the heavy competition was Oahu-based then.

And they knew to take their game up,

as Phil knew that they had to be here in Oahu to face the Oahu kids.

[Phil] They were still in grammar school.

And I'd send them to Riddle on a Friday night.

And then Dave would send them back to me on Sunday,

and then, Monday, they'd go to school.

[narrator] This is Bruce Irons getting a nice ride,

and check out the finishing floater right there.

Older brother Andy didn't want to be shown up

so he got in one of the best rides of the day.

Check out the aerial right there. Nice one.

[Bruce] My brother was always winning.

And, you know, he was kind of unstoppable.

[lady commentator] Andy Irons, in the blue. Deep, deep, deep!

Getting his spits out.

Andy Irons, in the blue.

[Bruce] We started getting paid when we were young.

I was like 13 or something.

Volcom gave me a contract for a good amount of money.

And I think then Quiksilver started paying my brother also.

[lady commentator] Andy Irons, up and running.

Yeah!

[crowd cheering]

[Bruce] The first pro event he won was the HIC Pipeline Pro.

That was a big thing, 'cause, you know, waves were 12 to 15 feet and unsure,

and out of control.

He wasn't afraid, and he was getting huge barrels,

and he was only a kid in high school.

And he's taking out like Derek Ho,

and adult seasoned veterans, you know?

Heat after heat, I just kind of got into this rhythm

and it just all came together.

It was a great feeling, that one.

[laughs]

I knew that after that event, every single brand

was gonna be chasing Andy Irons, you know?

How much were you guys paying him?

Well, we were paying him $120,000,

at 17 years old.

And that was a lot less than what he was being offered.

As we got older, you know, coming from what we came from,

and then, all of a sudden, you get all these sponsors and all this money.

It's new, it's not this little island,

we're in the real world, going around the world,

and surfing all these spots.

All these parties, all this attention, you know.

For him, it was a lot more intense.

The world on his shoulders.

You know, for me, it was, "Oh, I got my older brother.

He's the man. He's the bull's-eye.

And I'm just like protected by him,"

and, you know, that's...

I really liked that, you know?

I couldn't handle that pressure that he had.

[laughing]

[indistinct chatter]

[Phil] They had a lot coming at them quick,

and they didn't even really know what they had.

You know, this stuff was coming in, we managed their funds.

And they didn't even really want to know what they had.

For years, it was like that.

[Bruce] We didn't want to deal with that,

and it went for a long time, our whole career was like that.

Money's coming.

We don't know how much we're making.

As long as we can get our ATM, and this and that,

and it spits out money, great.

But we don't want to deal with that shit. We just wanna surf and surf and surf.

[Phil] You know, the traveling part was tough, because,

yeah, you send your boys off, and they're still in high school,

to these countries.

It's hard, it's leery.

Well, you always just hope for the best.

Don't look at the negative.

[Cory] Me and Andy were 16 and 17. We both started running around the world,

with no parents, no one to tell you what to do.

That's what you dream of, and then, all of a sudden,

we had the checks to do it

'cause we turned pro, and we're traveling the world, just having a good time.

And you know, start competing.

[crowd cheering]

...Hawaii's own, Andy Irons.

[crowd applauding and cheering]

We were just kids, we smoked a lot of pot.

And drink all night, come home at two or three in the morning,

and stay up and just keep drinking,

and plow right on, not even go to bed, just go out and surf.

We lived so loose, it's amazing that we made it through those years.

[Bruce] You know, from the beginning,

I think his goals and surfing were a lot different than mine.

Because I went in 'cause he was doing it,

and I was just like wanting to beat him.

But him, in his mind, early on, he wanted to be the best.

He was gonna get to the top,

no matter what, one way or the other.

Kicking, screaming, punching, whatever.

Andy and Bruce, what they do in the water,

the level of artistry that they show,

shifts the given.

It moves the posts as to what's really possible.

[upbeat music playing]

[Brian] You know, Andy and Bruce...

they were the guys that made things change.

Taking huge chances on waves that nobody thought...

those kinds of things could be done before.

Like, big waves with the small wave mentality.

When it got big,

people would be riding a big bore, trying to just get around.

Bruce and Andy just went, "Why not? Fuck it, I'm gonna just go at it."

Yeah, Bruce!

[yelling]

[screaming]

For me and my friends, those were our favorite surfers.

Those were the guys that we looked up to, and the guys that I grew up watching.

It was raw and it was gnarly.

I mean, he didn't really give a fuck.

The path that they took in their surf careers...

were similar but different.

Bruce won his share of surf events,

but he has got be one of the first guys

to really make a career not being a contest guy.

Get in the shots, charging.

[Shane] Andy and Bruce were hyper competitive with each other.

It's funny 'cause, Andy was competitive with everybody.

But Bruce seemed to be only competitive with Andy.

[TV announcer] What would you do to win $50,000?

Stay with us for details of the 20th annual Big Wave Invitational

on Oahu's North Shore.

And I'm talking 50-foot waves.

Incredible.

[Kai] Andy and Bruce were volatile.

Right before The Eddie, I called.

A poker game. They got into a big fight over poker.

[arguing]

You know, it'll be, "Fuck you, fuck you," and then just like, boom.

It's full on, knockdown, pounding each other.

[Kai] I remember Bruce just being so angry,

that he had a black eye during the Eddie, and just channeling it.

And then Bruce is in his heat,

and Bruce has taken off on his perfect ten.

Andy's like, "Fuck him! He don't deserve that wave."

He's getting a 25-foot wave, and Andy's flipping him off.

[waves roaring]

[Jason] Bruce wins, Andy gets third, black eye up on the stage,

it was just like, rockstar, classic, brotherly,

competitive type story.

[crowd applauding]

[announcer] From Hanalei, Kauai, Bruce Irons.

Andy and Bruce gave life to the future of surfing.

They defined a lot of moments in the era.

Andy's going.

[upbeat music playing]

...Gold Champion from Hanalei, Kauai. Ladies and gentlemen, Andy Irons.

[Andy] Surfing was definitely, you know, my ticket.

And from the beginning, I used to do the contests

and had the sponsors, and just took it one step at a time,

and before we knew it, I was on the tour, living it.

You know, the world tour is, basically, the best 32,

the top 32 competitive pro surfers in the world.

And we travel around, we do 10 or 11 different events around the world.

Different countries and locations,

and whoever is on top, wins the world title.

[cheering]

Today, it's in excess of $13 billion industry, globally.

Top guys, you know, their money is anyway

in the million to three and a half million dollars.

[cheering and applause]

[Kelly] When I'd first gone on tour,

pretty much everybody on tour partied, really hard.

You know, blind, shit-faced drunk.

I just couldn't believe them,

like, we gotta compete tomorrow. What are these people doing?

For me, it wasn't hard to not get sucked into that world

because it was simple, it never--

Tose things never made people better,

in fact, that was just like kryptonite for people.

[Bruce] First year on tour was a nightmare for my brother,

'cause, you know, coming from Hawaii straight into the tour.

I don't think he handled the pressure too well.

The first event came along, it was at Australia.

That's when we all went.

We all went there to watch him.

He's like, "You're coming to Australia with me.

You and Clay."

I don't have any money. He said, "I got you."

I'm like, "Really? Okay, cool."

Oh, my God, going to Australia. I'd never been to Australia.

[Bruce] We're all there on the rock somewhere, we're all sitting there like,

we're all so psyched, you know. Fuck, my brother is on tour

with Kelly Slater and Shane Dorian and everybody, it was like a big deal.

My brother, he lost the first round. First thing got lost, 33rd.

And it's probably a shocker,

but his mind wasn't in the right place. I know that.

And after he loses, we all go to Newcastle,

and then from Newcastle we go to West Australia.

As we went to Newcastle, my brother stayed in Queensland.

Why? I don't know.

[Clay] Andy shows up.

His hair was dyed black.

First thing, he got to the place where we were staying,

he got in there, he closed up the curtains.

He says, "They're out there. They're everywhere."

We didn't know who "they" were.

Door shut, window drapes down, "They're fucking following me."

Like out of the fucking movies.

He like, went off the deep end.

[Bruce] I was like, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

And he just looked right through me.

"It's all right, brother. It's all right."

Just these eyes... His eyes.

They just pierce right through you.

And I was like, "Oh, my God, my brother is gone.

He's gonna have to go to a loony bin.

He's out of his mind."

But then, as all this shit is going on, he goes to surf The Box,

and catch every wave, and get the deepest barrels, and have the ultimate session.

And he is completely out of his mind.

Out of his fucking mind.

[Andy] That day at The Box, that place is basically the edge.

You want to sit on the edge of life and really feel power,

you sit at The Box. That place is so rad.

[Bruce] He's out there in the water.

Like biting at people.

Like fucking cuckoo.

So I've been studying mood disorders for the past 35 years...

and specifically bipolar disorder for the past 15.

Bipolar disorder is a disorder of mood,

of energy, of motivation,

and you can have this switch from being okay,

to being manic and psychotic.

[Cory] He was two people, you know, like,

he could be so chill and cool

and he could also be so gnarly and high-strung.

[Nierenberg] People can have

episodes of mania.

They can have episodes of depression.

They can go from depressed to manic, from manic to depression,

and they can even have both at the same time.

They can believe things that simply aren't true.

So, if somebody all of a sudden believes that their loved ones are narcs

or after them,

that's the sort of delusions that can come along with an episode.

People can't control the speed of their thoughts.

They can't control the content of their thoughts.

For them, it's this altered state that's going on,

and again, it's coming from your brain.

You know, we all take for granted, being regulated.

We take for granted that we have these inhibitions,

It's how you get through a day. You got to have inhibitions.

Otherwise, you can't survive.

[Dave] After that event,

we packed him up and brought him back home.

And then he had a tough year that year

and ended up dropping off the tour.

[Lgan] The first time Andy really opened up and told me about the bipolar thing,

I really just don't think he believed it,

and I just think he was not ready to pay attention to it at all.

[Phil] You know, it was really hard for him.

That was-- You know...

Until then, you really never even knew about it.

You know, I mean, it was still a new thing.

I'd heard about it, and we touched on it, and there was medication for a while

and then not, so...

Andy once told me that he didn't like the meds.

He just did it in his own way.

I feel cooked. I don't know. [laughs]

I'm on a fucking downer right now. A bad one.

[Mark] I have bipolar disease, and I've had it all my life.

And your feelings become so extreme,

be it anxiety, depression, or elation

that you cannot survive and take care of yourself in the world.

And part of the trouble with getting better is,

you have to learn how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable,

which is really, really hard.

[Shane] It was the first time I'd ever really been close to somebody

who was pretty extremely bipolar.

He didn't seem to have any control of it.

He didn't seem like he had, you know,

medication that really worked or anything like that.

It was like, when it hit, he couldn't see it coming.

It was just something that would just grab him, and that was it.

It was like he was getting pulled under water,

and there was nothing he could do about it.

[Andy] After a while, it gets grueling.

After going for so many months, no matter how killer the spot you go to,

you're usually pretty burnt anyway.

You just wanna go home, just relax.

Have your own pillow, your own shower,

drive your car, see your old friends, you know.

There's got to be stability.

[thunder rumbling]

[Bruce] We moved over to the North Shore,

and all of us Kauai guys, we would all stay together.

So, wherever we went, there's always a group of us,

and all any of us ever wanted is to be able to surf Pipeline,

and be able to get sets.

So, we got settled right in and eventually, kind of, took over.

[upbeat music playing]

Pipeline, to me, is like the center of surfing,

it's always been the spot everyone watches.

The place in the magazines

and a lot happening in a condensed area.

People from around the world are all surfing Pipeline

and it's becoming very crowded and very dangerous.

People are burning each other.

People die out there, you know. There's no order.

I'm not gonna ram through the crosswalk

when there's people crossing.

You don't wanna go out to Pipeline and drop in on everybody.

It's just life.

[Bruce] A lot of our friends came over there from Kauai.

They started kind of cracking the whip,

and lot of them were big, gnarly, tough guys that no one is gonna step to.

I don't know, the North Shore, I think, needed it.

Welcome to Pipeline. Now, go home.

It's all good.

[Chava] The Wolfpak, I guess, is the foundation of all the islands coming together.

Protecting Hawaii from everybody else who is coming here.

All you guys. You, you, you. [laughs]

You got to get out of here.

[Dustin] We never called ourselves the Wolfpak,

somebody else called us that and it just stuck.

We were all Kauai boys,

and that's what we saw ourselves as.

Yeah, it was family.

You know, it was people that my brother didn't worry about.

Those were our boys, you know what I mean.

My brother, he had no reason to fight.

He was really good at what he did,

and no one fucked with him.

If you can go out there and go bigger and deeper than anyone,

you're gonna get respect really quick, and that's kind of what we did.

My brother had the biggest, tightest crew of boys that had his back 100%,

and you know, it showed.

[engine roaring]

Is this thing on? Is this thing on?

[Bruce] It was my brother's 21st birthday.

And they went on a boat trip to Indo.

At that time, he was pretty out there, still.

And when he drinks, he'd be even more out there,

just drinking Jack Daniels.

"It's my 21st birthday."

Just out of control.

I think they had morphine or something.

So my brother saw a line, and he thought it was coke or something.

He sniffed it, and it was a line of morphine,

and Nathan Fletcher grabbed my brother

and brought him into a room, laid him in bed,

and just like, "All right, I'll watch him.

'Cause he's just out of control."

Periodically, you'd hear this [grunts] sleep apnea thing,

like he's [clearing throat] clearing his throat.

After a while, Nathan didn't notice this pattern.

[Nathan] I realized he wasn't waking up,

so I grabbed him by the hair, smacked him in the face.

That's, you know, I guess, what you do, then his eyes just rolled in his head

and he wasn't breathing, he wasn't there.

[Bruce] The ambulance showed up,

he was still lifeless, still white, blue lips.

But there was a little pulse. So...

They put him in the ambulance,

and as they got to the hospital, they're like

"Where's our friend at? He just came in." They're like,

"Oh, you're friends."

He kept slipping in and out of life.

On the drive there, his lung collapsed.

He's in intensive care.

He flatlined for eight minutes.

Dead.

When I saw his thumb wiggle,

I knew that his family was gonna see him again.

His brother, his mom, his dad.

He can come home to his family.

That was the most gratifying feeling that I'd ever felt in my life.

[Danielle] I walked in his hotel room and I started crying,

and he grabbed me, and he was like,

he held me like, I thought he was gonna break me.

And he almost shook me

and he goes, "Stop crying. I'm fine."

I was so afraid then. I was afraid after that.

I was afraid I was gonna lose him.

[Bruce] I didn't see a good future coming, you know?

With all the shit going on in his head and mind.

I really didn't think my brother is ever gonna come back

to normal from how insane he was.

But the ocean, I think, had a big part in balancing out his chemical imbalance.

[choral music playing]

Usually, once I get in the water and come back out,

I feel a lot better, no matter what's going on.

It's almost like therapy or something.

You may have the worst day ever, go and have a good session and come in,

everything seems all right.

So to say surfing is a part of my life

is way too small or minuscule.

It's been there for me through good, bad.

Parents getting divorced, it don't matter.

Brother being a prick, it don't matter.

You go surfing, and you do a good turn,

it feels as good as your first turn.

And that's the kind of stuff that keeps me going back in the water

hoping to keep that feeling going.

[Bruce] When he snapped out of that whole being kind of crazy part of his life,

it's like the brain was a Rubik's Cube

and it all just kind of came back together.

I don't know, 'cause he was so scattered and so out there,

and then all of a sudden, he's winning heaps.

And how? I don't know.

[laughs]

[Shane] It was, like, instantaneous.

He went from the least confident guy in the world,

he was getting drunk after every loss, and being a total idiot

to, all of a sudden, he was full on world champion material.

He was the biggest threat at every event.

[cheering]

Bipolar disorder can be associated with tremendous creativity and drive.

And there are many people who feel, that in many ways, it is a gift.

Because they can see things differently than many other people can.

Sometimes people call it "Pre-psychotic brilliance."

Your mind is working better and faster than every body else.

[upbeat music playing]

[Bruce] He won those two contests back-to-back at Huntington,

got back on tour,

and when he signed that contract with Billabong, I remember that,

that gave my brother this confidence that,

"Yeah, now I'm with a badass brand,

and I'll show you guys what you guys just got yourself."

Yeah, Andy, brother!

Andy Irons, up and running. He's committing, pulled in.

Still going. Is he going?

[people cheering]

He got so good and so confident so fast, all of a sudden it was like

"Holy shit, Andy Irons. This guy is radical."

Something stoked that fire and he finally figured it out.

[commentator] Still riding. He's still riding.

[cheering]

I went through the trial and error like everyone else.

Got out of high school and straight into the tour life,

and it can eat you alive, and it took a big chunk out of me.

I fell off the tour, and if I didn't do that,

I wouldn't have come back so strong.

2002... champion!

[Cory] You look at his interviews, you hear the way he talks,

he just sounds like a completely different person.

Cause when it clicked for Andy it just clicked,

we didn't really see it coming.

He had been struggling, and all of a sudden

Andy just clicked and became this guy that was unbeatable.

[bell ringing]

One of the best that surfing's ever witnessed.

...and the crowd goes crazy.

[crowd applauding]

My brother went on to win the world title

from being fucking dead.

[crowd cheering]

[announcer] ...true champion. A true champion.

Mark December 3rd, 2002.

Andy Irons is the new Men's World Champion

here at Sunset Beach.

Number one, baby!

[cheering]

Andy Irons.

Can we just fucking ride your coattail today?

Just feel the aura. You guys are-- I didn't win, we all won.

The whole freaking-- All the boys.

Don't leave me hanging.

-Never, buddy. -Told you.

When he wins, we all win.

We call him the people's champ. He's winning, we're all winning.

We're all riding that high, that pink cloud, and it was unreal.

[Bruce] For me and all my friends of Kauai,

it was the best days of our lives.

It gave everyone motivation to--

"Fuck, my brother is conquering the world, we want to conquer it too."

And he was carrying us all to victory.

[Kai] This thing was out of control.

There was just everything you can think of.

Like, whatever you think of a surfer party lifestyle,

that was it.

You know, bands in the yard, free everything.

[gun firing]

I like that gun.

This one really is just for the fans. Thank you so much.

You guys made my dream come true.

[cheering]

[Bruce] My brother didn't give a fuck, you know?

As long as the vibes are good and people are happy,

that's all that mattered.

[Phil] They were really generous.

He really provided a lot of things for people

that just got lucky to be there.

They were the pro surfers with the money

and the hanger-oners, and all the bad that comes with success.

You have to be able to filter it through, and not have it come in and stomp on you.

And both of them got stomped on.

[Bruce] My brother loved getting people paid,

loved throwing parties,

loved spreading it.

There were a lot of hands out, a lot of hands were out.

Everyone wanted to be a part of our show.

Shit, they loved it. They marketed it.

People under the marketing, Wolfpak.

Everyone kind of started realizing, "Hey, we can all make money here."

[Bruce] A lot of people got jobs, a lot of people got sponsored.

A lot of money flew our way, not just to me and my brother,

but it flew to all of our friends.

How are these pressures affecting your surfing?

Sometimes I'll get weird thoughts through my head like,

be the world champ and you got to surf good every single wave,

you can't fall off, stuff like that.

But I try not to get too caught up on those

and just surf like everyone else and just wanna have fun.

I get really moody lately.

Jacked, you know.

Just something, I don't know. It's just a lot of...

Lot of thoughts, lot of... just stuff going on...

I'm just trying not to let it get to me.

But I'm just human. It just gets to me sometimes

and I get overwhelmed. I try not to get overwhelmed, but it's hard.

Just trying to deal with it the best I can.

I just need something to get me all fired up again.

I just don't feel like I have it right now.

[Bruce] Lyndie came along. They met on my brother's birthday, July 24th.

It was after my brother's first world title.

And my brother fell deeply in love with Lyndie.

From that day that he saw her, that night,

he never let her go.

[Lyndie] It was just really, instant attraction, chemistry.

And he was wild and funny...

[laughs] and I liked all that.

He told me he loved me after three weeks in front of my best friends

and he was definitely full on.

I didn't know that he was in the middle of a world title.

But he just seemed on top of the world and happy and just full of life.

[both laughing]

When we started dating, he asked me to go on a couple of trips I remember,

but I was really-- It was overwhelming.

But when you date a surfer on tour, you travel with him and date.

You don't stay at home and go out to dinner.

You kind of have to go on the road with them,

and get to know them. And I didn't get that in the beginning.

I was like, "You're crazy, wanting to take me places."

It's called The Dream Tour for a reason, I guess.

It was a dream life.

It was solid two to three years of just rockstar life.

Just traveling around the world first class

and doing whatever we wanted,

it was amazing, it was fun. [laughs]

[purring]

If a kid ever came up to him and asked for an autograph or a picture,

there was never even a question of what we were doing.

He would stop and do it.

He felt almost safe and I think unjudged by kids.

He was completely himself and silly.

-[vocalizing] -[children giggling]

He was not only on fire on tour, and now he found his new love,

and it was just like he was unstoppable.

[announcer] Last but not least,

the six time world champion, and the yellow jersey, Kelly Slater.

[crowd cheering]

We all know Kelly, as maybe not only the best surfer ever

but the best competitive surfer ever.

He's the genius of it.

[Sal] You had one guy coming off of Pamela Anderson,

and just super stardom,

best surfer on the planet.

And here's this kid, this young angry Jedi,

who is like, "You are my hero,

but I'm not gonna worship you."

Kelly different from Andy?

I don't know, night and day difference.

Kelly was a-- he was a person you wanna take home to dinner,

he's the good, nice guy.

And my brother, on the other hand, was a little bit more like a loose cannon.

You never knew what you're gonna get.

Kelly is like this-- He's another level that nobody can relate to.

But Andy, he was just always like everybody else.

[Sal] He went out of his way to interact with people.

He was somebody that people felt like they could identify with.

The surfing world loved their golden boy, Kelly.

And my brother was the dark horse.

In my brother's mind, that's what he thought.

That's why Kelly would have his white wet suit,

and my brother would have his black wet suit.

He goes, like, "This is my Kelly-killer suit."

[Kelly] 2002, he won his first title.

2003 was the year I was very aware, like he's the guy to beat.

Up until 2002, he wasn't.

But in 2003, there was no one else in the picture, in my mind.

[Dave] Two of the greatest surfers ever, going against each other.

Both with this will to win that to this day, I haven't seen.

Andy Irons, ladies and gentlemen, the winner.

Number one in the world.

It's on. No pressure. Just amp.

So, Andy, you just lost, how do you feel?

I lost. How do you think I feel? Not good.

[Kelly] He was just like, "I should never lose

I wanna take Kelly's dream and smash it."

I don't even know if I even said what my dream was.

He just was going to figure out what it was, before me and kill it.

My whole driving force right now

is to take his little pretty picture and just crush it.

[crowd cheering]

Now I need to get to work, that's all.

Now we see Kelly flat out and gnarly.

Fuck, hurry up! I'm outta here.

[announcement over PA system]

[Sal] I think it's one of the greatest rivalries in sports.

For the first time in a long time, something that resembled the old

Lakers, Celtics rivalries,

and you had to pick a side.

[Andy] Started this rivalry thing, and I started getting into the character,

and just started going, "You know what? Fuck Kelly!"

He wasn't the guy I grew up looking up to anymore,

he was the guy I wanted to beat more than anything.

I wanted nothing better than to leave him on the beach with a loss.

How do you feel about Andy going out for the first round?

I feel great about it.

I'm sure he doesn't.

[Bruce] They were just going back and forth, first, second, first, second,

and after every event, my brother's like, "Next event, next event."

All the way down to Pipeline.

That was nuts.

So, all this hype, everything was coming down to the North Shore.

Whoever placed the one higher was gonna win the world title.

Half of Kauai was there,

He had a great base of people around him.

Everything was in his court.

People say that Andy

carried all of Hawaii by himself.

The pressure that builds up, sky-rocketed. It was incredible to watch.

My brother would get on, and they would just roar. My brother could hear that,

my brother could feed off that.

[Mick] That was the part of surfing that was missing.

That was the part where the rivalry was thicker than actually going surfing.

[Kelly] I would literally look at Andy or think about him,

or dream about how to beat him, and all that stuff and...

for whatever reason, Andy and I did that to each other.

I know he did that to me.

[Bruce] My brother, more than anything, wanted to crush Kelly.

Especially at home, in Hawaii, in front of all the boys.

That pressure, it was probably going nuts in his head.

[applause]

[announcer] The North Shore showdown, the final will begin in five minutes.

Go out there, guys. Good luck.

[Andy] The guy came up to me before the final at the Prime Masters, 2003,

biggest heat of the year, at the final, before it all goes down.

He comes upto me, pats me on the back,

"I just wanna let you know, I love you like a brother."

Right before the biggest heat of my life.

Like... what?

[Lyndie] I definitely think Kelly played mind tricks on Andy. Definitely.

He didn't know Andy fed off that.

[crowd cheering]

[announcer] Andy Irons...

Now to the countdown, four,

three, two, one...

[crowd cheering]

Andy Irons and Kelly Slater. Give it up for each of them in the water right now!

[Sal] And it was the first time you saw Kelly visibly rattled, and not able to just

do the thing that he does.

And I think that Andy

made him have to refocus or redevelop how he did things.

Yeah!

Long live the king!

[crowd cheering]

[laughing]

[crowd cheering]

-So nuts. -Where you been?

He set up a party for all of us who just wanted to go fucking Richter,

which we did, and he's like, "Nah, nah, nah, I'm good, I'm good," like,

my brother just wanted to be with Lyndie.

-Nobody else. -Nobody else.

He wanted to just sit there and soak up what he just accomplished.

[Nierenberg] There are very few of us

who end up achieving anything that we could call greatness.

And so, for those people who do achieve that,

even burdened by having bipolar disorder, is extraordinary.

[cheering and applause]

[Bruce] I love seeing my brother like that, in shape, confident, focused.

He was a competitive animal, athlete.

And he carried himself like that.

Congratulations...

In his mind he knew this is where he needed to be... "I'm the man,

I'm the champ, and no ones' taking this away from me."

[announcer] Andy, your third ride. A perfect ten points.

[applause]

[Andy] It's amazing, I looked forward to this feeling my whole life.

Right now it's really hard to explain the emotions.

There's no world that can describe it,

but maybe in a week or so, I'll have some words to put together about it.

Right now, I'm in disbelief.

[cheering and applause]

[Mick] To win for three years in a row, that pressure was building up,

and when it finally happened,

I think no one really knew exactly

how much of a toll it was really gonna take.

You know, after Andy won those three world titles,

and then the next year came down to that heat at J-Bay

where Kelly and Andy are in the final, and that was the heat that

determined the world title at the end of the year.

[Kelly] He was the one who had everything to lose in 2005, not me.

I hadn't won a world title in seven years.

I'm bald, I'm over the hill,

I mean, he's told me all these things. I'm a fucking kook.

Okay, if I'm over the hill and I beat you, then this is gonna crush you.

[cheering and applause]

Andy was-- Last ride, he got an eight. He rode all the way down the point,

but he didn't a whole lot on the way.

He just did a lot of up and downs, but nothing big.

Andy rode the wave all the way down the beach,

you couldn't find out where he was when he came back up the beach.

He rode this wave all the way down there, and Kelly needed to score.

[Kelly] "Okay, Kelly, you need a 9.3," or whatever it is.

I remember standing up and going, I just went,"This is the wave.

This is clearly the best wave that has come in this heat,"

and so, I think I did four turns and fell on the fifth.

It was like... I should have made that. It was teetering on the edge.

It's a 9.5!

[crowd cheering]

[announcement over PA system]

[Kelly] I could see how he was physically defeated in that moment.

[Bruce] If they didn't give that score to Kelly, my brother would have won the world title.

That wasn't Kelly's fault, it came down to the judges.

Clearly, Kelly didn't get the score. Kelly will admit to that.

[Mick] We all thought Andy got ripped off,

and we're all like, "The judges, they're being idiots!"

You know, talking shit to 'em.

He was pissed. He lost a lot of respect, I think,

for the whole fucking judging and all that shit after that.

The whole beach saw that. The whole tour saw that.

[crowd cheering]

[Lyndie] I think he was hurt 'cause it was so obvious, and everybody told him.

But it was true, and that contest is what started his...

downfall.

And he watched that heat on repeat, probably a thousand times.

Kinda just didn't give a fuck after that. He was like, "Fuck this already."

Like, three is good enough, and they're giving the nod back to Kelly,

and yeah, it kinda broke him right there.

[Nierenberg] Having your moods go back and forth is like waves.

You don't have any control over it.

Now, one of the things about bipolar disorder is that

it's mostly depression for people,

and with not finding that life has meaning,

with nothing finding that there's anything of interest,

it's very easy for them to feel like they're a failure.

It's extraordinarily painful.

[Bruce] After the end of that year, yeah, my brother's dark side started

creeping more into his everyday life.

Little bit of partying turned into a lot of partying, and

all of a sudden, he wouldn't be surfing for a couple of days,

couple days would turn into a week,

a week would turn into two weeks, he kinda just started...

going on "vacay" mode, you know.

[Nierenberg] People with bipolar disorder do all sorts of things

to try to help themselves,

and in seeking relief from that severe anxiety,

they're prone to go overboard

with a lot of the drugs.

I drank differently than other people,

I took drugs differently.

They were doing it to have fun, I was doing it to be more normal.

'Cause when you have this illness of anxiety,

you say, "Finally, this is the drug that makes me the man I'm supposed to be."

And you keep taking it, and you keep taking it, and then,

however many years later, it stops working.

[Bruce] Now, he was smoking weed when he was younger.

He'd smoke a lot of weed.

Then, if it wasn't weed, then drinking.

A lot of drinking, doing coke.

A lot of coke and drinking.

Then the pills come. A lot of pills.

Then once you get on the pill run, the pill runs are a hard one to kick,

and that's the one that grabbed a hold of my brother,

grabbed a hold of a lot of us.

It took down a whole bunch of people.

That seemed like that was the beginning of the end

for that big run that my brother had in the spotlight, that all of us had.

'Cause when my brother was doing good, and winning, and he was healthy and solid,

the light was shining bright on all of us.

And as soon as my brother went down that dark road,

we all went down that dark road.

-What pill did you just take? -Yellow.

Is that a yellow guy?

Yeah, what I have here is... you got the...

Hydrocodone for the back,

we have the Valiums for the sleeping disorder,

and we have Oxycodone. This is extremely...

Like, if you're in real big pain. Pharmaceutical grade...

Wow, you're really breaking down here.

Beginning in the mid '90s,

When Purdue Pharma introduced a drug called Oxycontin,

it launched a campaign to increased prescribing of opioids.

Don't be afraid to take what they give you.

Less than 1% of patients taking opioids actually become addicted.

[Kolodny] From 1997 to 2011,

there was a 900% increase in addiction to prescription opioids.

When we talk about opioid pain medicine,

we're essentially talking about heroin pills.

We had probably about 60 fucking best friends.

Tightest pack freakin' surfing's ever seen.

and those pills fucking ripped that whole scene right in half.

You're thinking, "It's just like the little pharmaceutical pills.

Like a Vicodin, no big deal."

They're handing these things out at Rite Aid or CVS

how bad could they be for you?

[Bruce] Before you know it, you're hooked,

and you try to stop, and you start getting sick and all this shit,

it's kind of a scary thing

if no one's there to tell you what the hell's going wrong with you.

[Kolodny] We had, in 2014,

more Americans dying of a drug overdose than we had dying from

from AIDS, at the height of the AIDS epidemic.

The CDC is calling this the worst drug addiction epidemic

in United States' history.

[Joel] He's like, "I'll try these ones, these are the 80s milligrams."

He was on the 20s before that.

He had this little orange pill crusher white lid

dropped one in, and he'd snort the pill, and I was like,

"What are those things man? You're crazy.

Get off those, they're fucked."

I couldn't believe that he was...

had one in the morning, one at lunch, one at night. Getting through all day.

[Logan] It takes over, and everything is orchestrated and set up

based off of that drug, that chemical,

and nothing matters, nothing works, nothing exists

unless you have it.

[Lyndie] I think once he started that stuff,

he was a different... it changed him completely.

Definitely changed him.

[Bruce] Everyone had their own addiction problem,

everyone was hiding it, and

and we all just turned into these closet-case drug addict monsters.

You can see it when you go down to Pine Trees, 'cause it wasn't the same.

[Lyndie] All I did was beg him to surf.

'Cause I thought that maybe surfing would make him happy.

But it was far more than surfing that was torturing him mentally.

I think he suffered in a lot of ways, mentally, that I don't understand.

I always tried to understand and I had so much compassion for it, 'cause

I didn't understand what he was going through.

He would tell me a lot that he wished that he could explain

what's going on in his head and I just laugh it off, like,

"Okay, what do you mean?" And he's like, "No, I wish I could explain

"to you how... what I see and what I'm thinking,"

and he was like, "But I'd scare you. I don't even know how to explain it."

[children laughing]

[laughing]

[Andy] I'm on a fucking downer right now. A bad one.

Better come out of it.

[metal rock music playing]

We thought it was gonna be a fun heat, but it's actually been pretty hitting.

Because those rocks are right there,

and you just get washed straight into 'em and there's no escaping.

He was fucked up for that whole event, and he's surfing his heats,

barely making it out on time, coming in, guys are just high-fiving him,

and also high-fiving stickers onto his wet suit with big bags of blow in it.

He won that contest high on coke and pills, like no big deal.

And you know what, that wasn't the first and last event he won high.

[Andy] I didn't go anywhere, I was always there.

Just won back... Throw that one away, I'm right in there.

Can't wait. Game on.

[crowd cheering]

Talk to you later!

[camera clicking]

During that Chile event, yeah, I ended up in the room with me and my brother,

drinking a lot and doing substances and shit.

Just me and him, which we never really do together, by ourselves, but...

we were kinda having a pow-wow.

I remember being really drunk and the last thing I remember

before I blacked out was him asking me

outta the blue, like, "Are you afraid of dying?"

I was thinking, "Wait, what the fuck?"

At the time I went, "Yeah, I'm afraid of drying," and he goes,

"Well, brother, there's nothing to be afraid about."

I'm like, "What are you talking about?" He goes, "Remember when I died in Indo,

and I was on that table, dead for eight minutes?" He goes,

"I was out of my body, and I was on the other side."

He goes, "It's all real, you know."

"The whole light, the tunnel,

I was in this other place and it was real nice and comfortable and warm."

He goes, "It's all real, and there's nothing to be afraid about."

And he goes, "When I was looking down at my dead body,

I didn't like how I felt in that world,

how I felt in that body. I didn't want to go back."

[Graham] I ended up going to meet him at the airport in L.A.,

and high as a kite, he had just won the event,

and I just turned to him and I said,

" Hey, Andy, I'm not here to take you home,

I'm taking you a center, 'cause you need help."

And all three of us broke down.

And he thanked me, he just said, "Yeah, I'm sorry, I need help."

And we sent him off.

[Lyndie] Ultimately, he always had the control, and I knew that.

Even when Billabong sent him to rehab, this isn't...

this isn't over. I saw it in his eyes I knew it wasn't.

[Bruce] It seems like he went to that rehab three times, really quick, and it was,

all back to back to back, it seemed like.

He needed it, but you go to rehab,

you hang out with a bunch of other addicts.

All you do is learn how to do heavier drugs different ways.

So, the only person that's gonna wanna get help,

if you wanna get help, is the person who's going through it.

After that, my brother, he was good for about eight, nine months.

He focused a lot of his energy into Lyndie.

And she stuck by his side through thick, thin, ups, downs, all that shit.

He truly loved her more than anything in the world

and you could see it.

-Oh, my God, I'm so nervous. Thanks. -You look beautiful.

This is happening! Yes.

[screams]

[cheering and applause]

I love everyone. I love her...

[Bruce] The wedding's over, the party's over.

My brother didn't want that to stop. He wanted the good times to keep flowing.

That's what he did, and it went on for a couple of days.

Lyndie called me after they got married. He'd disappeared right after the wedding.

I was like, "What the... What do you mean?

Didn't you just get married?"

That's when I knew that he was...

getting outta hand.

He had 200 Oxys

and ounces of coke, and he mixed them all up,

and it was just so beyond that point of no return.

He'd laugh... anything, "I can handle. I got this."

What are you gonna tell the guy? He's a grown man.

Everyone wants to blame somebody, they never want to accept the fact

that me and brother were big fucking monsters.

Believe it or not, we were manipulative in getting what we wanted,

especially if it came to drugs.

You start getting into heavy fucking addiction with these pills.

I know that was... that was ruining my life,

and I know it was ruining my brother's life too.

[Lyndie] I remember him paddling out for a heat,

and he couldn't even paddle into a wave.

He couldn't even catch a wave.

[man 1] Is he gonna look at this?

[man 2] Andy Irons lets it go.

He started doubting himself, doubting every move, every...

even to his trunk colors, to his board.

He was so doubtful of himself.

He cared so much about what the surfing world

or the public thought of him,

instead of maybe just retiring, and having a family, and being happy.

He was really worried about what people thought of him.

Everyone thought it would be a good year to take off base,

because when you win a world title, you're allowed to take a year off.

He was very confused.

Didn't know what to do.

He sat in our condo, two months straight...

and didn't say a word.

I'd scream and yell, and just be like, "Just tell me you're okay."

I would do anything to try to get anything out of him, and it was nothing.

Until he left one time,

and that's when I got scared.

I remember finding him on a mattress.

With no sheet or blanket, barely alive.

And he always told me, "Don't you dare tell anyone."

So it's like, I had to go to a freakin' Foodland and act like everything was fine,

and I had a dying heroin-- husband at home.

I look back now and I wish I didn't. I was just trying to protect him,

but I think, in a way, I wasn't protecting him,

but that's what he wanted.

[waves crashing]

We went to Australia to start over and regroup,

and I thought Australia would be the best place, 'cause pills weren't...

pills weren't in Australia yet.

But he had that support of all his really good friends there.

Joel and Mick and Aucky. It was a nice family.

When he came over, though, he was fuckin' so good.

He'd put in the hard work, he's surf,

he would do everything right.

[Mick] Lyndie turned into this rock for Andy.

She was the one right there, she was ground zero for it all

and she saw everything.

She was always like, "I'm sticking by him

and I'm there till the end."

That's when Lyndie was pregnant, he's like "All this shit, this doesn't matter."

I just want her. Love conquered all in their world.

It was beautiful.

Look at this one, Andy.

[screaming]

[Lyndie] He came back to the old Andy.

It was the best thing for us.

Coming out of the darkness.

-Coming out. AI. -AI.

[screaming]

[Andy] I got lucky enough to take a year off,

and now I'm coming back there, and I'm not as good as I was.

And I have a lot of work to do, but I'm willing to do that work.

So, realistically, I'm looking forward to just winning another contest.

That'd be a big dream of mine. Get one more win.

I'm just putting my goal around one more win.

If I get one more win before I quit surfing competitions,

I'm sure I'm gonna enjoy that win more than most of my wins I've ever had,

just 'cause it's been so long.

I have fans now that come up to me and tell me, "We're so stoked for you."

I've never had this before, I've had the roller coaster of fanship.

When I came on, I was all cocky and whatever, and it was kinda lame,

and then after I started winning, I was kinda brash,

but people were like, "It's kinda cool 'cause he's winning...

but Kelly's way cooler."

I'm like, "Whatever, Kelly's cooler, but I'm gonna beat him, and I beat him."

And I beat him again and again, and then he beat me again and again,

and then I got humble, and today literally what gets me up to go...

gets me up outta bed every morning, it's not contests,

it's not Kelly, it's not anything else, other than to go surfing.

To be happy, and that's what the big picture is for me.

Quarters in like two years.

Such a big relief, I hadn't been in the quarters in two years.

I'm over the moon.

Kelly's in the other suit out with me now, in the semi, so...

I mean, I'm excited. I'm psyched.

[Lyndie] I remember being so pregnant, lying on my back, and watching heats.

Even with Bruce, we watched the final together.

Yeah, Andy!

I remember him beating Kelly,

and I remember him specifically hitting the water with excitement,

and I knew that, that was...

everything to him. Everything.

[upbeat music playing]

All the way from Hawaii, Andy Irons!

[crowd cheering]

[Lyndie] He just seemed at this little... at ease.

For the first time that I've ever seen him, he wasn't this raging Andy,

ferocious, competitive Andy,

he had this, like, almost ease about him.

Without that year off, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be winning contests at all.

I'd be at home, hanging out, and I'm stoked to be on tour,

and I'm stoked to win a contest. My whole dream was just to win another contest.

Any time you get your name on that trophy, it just feels...

it feels amazing. I won't lie. It feels amazing.

[cheering]

[Lyndie] I was just so happy for him.

Just the look in his eyes,

the pain was gone.

Yeah, it was all coming together.

[fan 1] I guess it's kinda open-ended though.

What does the whole future hold?

[Andy] For me? A kid.

Erm.

Future? The biggest thing is, are you kiddin' me? I don't know what's coming,

boy or girl either way, it's awesome.

Either way, it's the next generation, either way, it's my re-birth.

Either way, it's something for me to be positive and motivated.

My brother has a kid, and it's cool to see evolution.

You can't be that psyched kid that all she lives for is one thing.

You have to evolve. Surfing is the main priority in my life,

but it's not the only priority.

To me, surfing is something that makes me a better person.

Surfing's the reason why I have this life I have.

That's why I have this beautiful wife, I have this beautiful family.

So, surfing is the main element, but what comes with it,

it's a matter of what you make of it.

And that's where I'm at right now. I'm just making my own path.

[Bruce] Yeah, at that time, he was happy.

He was surfing really good. He was content with his life,

and ready to start this new chapter of his life. Just...

a lot more relaxed, a lot more focused on

his up and coming child.

[indistinct chattering]

[Kelly] He came up to me, and he goes, "Hey, can we talk?"

He was like, "I feel like I got lucky to start over."

And basically, he said, "Look, you know I've had this crazy thing,

and I wanna make a movie with you,

and I wanna tell the whole story.

I wanna take it to schools and tell kids how messed up I was.

and if I just change one kid's life,

even if I can change just one kid's life, I'll like I'm a success in my life."

And I said, "Man, you got my word,

I'll do anything you want.

I'll do whatever."

He goes, "I'm stoked, I'm so stoked."

He was like, "I've never felt like this in my life."

He goes, "I didn't know I could feel like this.

I never knew life could feel the way I feel right now."

Fuck.

[Joel] Andy was faced with tons of pressures everywhere he went,

and those dark sides would definitely get at him

quicker than the positive sides.

We went down to Mexico,

he was clean, everything was going well

and some slimeball shows up,

starts having a conversation with him, and the next thing you know,

he looks like he's getting loaded.

He trading boards, or something's going on.

You're like, "How did this situation turn dark so fast?"

[Cory] I found a tinfoil wrapped up,

and there's some stuff in it. It was burnt. I'm just...

It was something. Whatever it was, that's what he was doing.

That's why he was how he was.

He was really truly high and low on that trip.

To the worst I've seen him, ever in my life.

It was heartbreaking to see because,

sometimes, he wouldn't be able to handle it.

And then you just go, there's an addiction here that's much stronger than--

It wasn't an intentional thing.

He had no intention of getting loaded on that trip.

It was heartbreaking. I know it was a bummer for him.

But those pressures were constant for him.

[Lyndie] He was complaining about chest pain which he never complained about before,

and at first, I was like, "Oh, it's just anxiety.

It may be your anxiety." He's like, "No, it's not anxiety.

It's legit chest pain. " So, when we went to the doctor,

right before he left for his trip,

she did a few tests, and she's like,

"You need to come back, right when you get back from Puerto Rico.

You need to come back in here and we need to figure out what's wrong with you."

-Andy Irons. Lyndie's... -Lyndie's not going with you?

-No. -Okay.

[Nierenberg] One of the things that we're understanding now

is that bipolar disorder is not just a brain disorder.

It's a total body disorder

and people have all sorts of things that go wrong medically.

There does seem to be sort of a total body

and heart aging, if you will.

[Bruce] He didn't even wanna go. He didn't even wanna go to Puerto Rico.

It was at the end of the year already.

He just wanted to stay home, you know.

He wasn't mentally there. He wasn't...

He wasn't solid.

[Lyndie] I don't know, he was on a really bad one.

He was coming off of stuff,

and he didn't have his pills to come off of the pills

that he was on, that he needed to surf this contest.

I remember telling him, "Just touch the...

That's the rule, you just have to touch the water in the contest,

and then you can come home."

I'm like, "Put your foot in the water,

take your jersey off, and then come home."

Andy didn't show up for his first heat in Puerto Rico.

And I just heard he was at a...

a signing at a surf shop, and he was so bloodshot red in his eyes,

that they didn't even want him there.

[Bruce] When you're going through withdrawals, you don't want to do a fucking thing.

You sure as hell can't go surf.

I think he was sick, blown out in his hotel room, didn't wanna leave.

You know, trying to get back home,

and going through withdrawals. You're sick,

so your body's going through a whole lot of stress.

Doctor saw him. Gave him a couple of bags of saline solution,

and he said he felt a lot better.

Then we heard that he had left and jumped a flight,

went to Miami and was trying to get home.

[phone ringing]

[Andy speaking]

[Lyndie] Got to Texas and...

said he was so sick, he was wheelchaired off the airplane and into the hotel.

He said he was so sorry for everything.

That he was coming home.

[Bruce] I know he was trying his hardest to get home.

Thinking about his new child coming.

He wanted to be home...

really bad.

I don't know how, but I knew it. I fucking knew it.

Her screaming at my doorstep,

eight months pregnant,

I fucking knew instantly my brother was dead.

The last thing I heard was, he went to sleep,

never woke up.

Alone, in a Texas hotel.

He could conquer any wave, but surfing champion, Andy Irons

has suddenly died.

The mysterious death of world champion surfer Andy Irons...

The 32-year-old died suddenly while on his way home to Kauai.

After the Rip Curl Pro Surf Event in Puerto Rico.

His wife is due to give birth to the couple's first child in two weeks.

Just how he died remains a mystery.

Irons reportedly told his family he caught dengue fever in...

An autopsy report conducted by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner

shows the 32-year-old had a heart attack.

Surfing phenom, Andy Irons,

died from a combination of a heart attack and drug use,

according to the New York Times.

The news sent shockwaves through the world of surfing.

Fellow surfers held a traditional paddle out memorial Wednesday

to say goodbye to their friend.

[choral music playing]

[song ends]

[Lyndie] If I had a chance to talk to you again, Andy,

I would tell you that I love you so much,

and I miss you so much.

I don't even know how to explain it in words,

how much I miss you, but I wanna tell you that

you're amazing, and I'm so proud of you, and I just wish I could

hug you and hold you and kiss you one last time.

And most importantly, wanted to tell you,

Axel...

he's perfect.

I know you would be so proud.

Look.

I see so much of you in him, and...

I'm lucky I have him, and thank you for giving me him,

'cause I don't know where I'd be without him.

[Bruce] Andy...

I think about you every single day.

Now that you're not here,

I realize, I'm alone in this world.

Everything that you felt, I felt.

You were my hero...

growing up, and you still are.

[laughing]

[all cheering]

You know what my brother told me? "It's totally makeable. Go, go, go."

From Kauai, ladies and gentlemen, Andy Irons.

[child] Mom, I did it.