Andy Irons' cause of death revealed

By Tim Sakahara - bio | email

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Irons family released a statement and snippets from the 13 page toxicology report to Surfline.com.  According to the report the primary cause of death was a heart attack due to hardening of the arteries, which runs in his family but is unusual for a 32 year old.

The secondary cause was an "acute mixed drug ingestion."  The results showed Irons had cocaine and a trace amount of methamphetamine in his system, along with other prescription drugs Alprazolam (Xanax) and methadone.

The family says Irons was diagnosed as bi-polar when he was 18 and had manic highs and depressive lows.  At times he self-medicated with recreational drugs.

Irons died in November in Texas. He was on a layover and returning to Kauai after withdrawing from a surf contest in Puerto Rico.

He was a three time world surfing champion and was making a comeback after being out of the sport the previous two years.

"We are hoping that people will remember Andy for his very full life, which included his intense passion for surfing and the ocean, his astonishing achievements as a world-class athlete, and his devotion to the family and friends who love him dearly and miss him every day. Receiving the disturbing news about the cause of death brings back the shock and tremendous grief we first felt upon receiving word that Andy had passed," wrote the Irons Family in a statement.

As for the dengue fever which was originally believed to have played a part, it was tested for and ruled out as a cause his death.

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