The Santa Cruz Sentinel tells the story of the “hold-down” of Darryl “Flea” Virostko’s life. It wasn’t at Maverick’s. It was a week after a group of his family and friends held a little intervention that Flea finally drove himself to Monterey’s Beacon House drug rehab center and checked in.
When nurses admitted him, Virostko’s blood alcohol content registered at 0.28 on the breathalyzer. A BAC of 0.30 and above is usually enough to put a person in a coma, if not flat out kill him.
The rest is classic story of drug abuse (strangely similar to this clip we just watched of Steve-O) featuring sadness, loss, methamphetamine, and a blown professional surfing career. But that is all old news, the story claims, because now Flea is back and has been sober for eight months.
Today, the intensity in Virostko’s face has returned. The hunger is there. He’s surfing every day. He’s following a healthy diet. He’s moved to Ben Lomond with his girlfriend and three dogs, Mija, Riddle and Passion, to “get away from my wreckage.” Virostko surfed Maverick’s twice this winter – on the only two legitimate Mav’s swells that came through – including the Nov. 30 “Turkey Day” swell, which saw some of the largest, cleanest paddle-in Mav’s in years. He managed to nail a handful of heavy drops.
And that’s good news.
[Link: Santa Cruz Sentinel]
