In 2018, two-time World Champion Tyler Wright caught a flu most of us would see as a passing inconvenience — gone and dealt with in a matter of days. But instead of a fleeting, uncomfortable bug, Wright ended up battling post-viral syndrome with her career on hold for half of that year and almost all of 2019. When she did return to competition, it was the final World Tour stop of 2019, where she finished second at the Lululemon Maui Pro in December. Her recent appearance on 60 Minutes Australia makes that even more impressive with hindsight now, after more than a calendar year in bed and everything that apparently came along with it.
Wright spent 14 months recovering from that flu and according to the feature that aired on May 17th, she doesn’t even remember her 25th birthday. Beyond the physical sickness, she describes night terrors and emotional breakdowns with doctors saying it all could last anywhere from months to five years. Wright also opened up about her relationship with singer-songwriter Alexandra Lynn (easily the most revealing insights into her private life), who performs as Alex the Astronaut, sharing what it was like to experience her first relationship while simultaneously relying on that person as her 24/7 caretaker for more than a year.
“It may shock you that I was not an easy patient,” Wright later shared on social media, while also addressing the couple’s eventual breakup (below). “I pride myself as being an independent woman, and learning to accept help was a challenge (turns out you can be or do both). I also had some questionable athlete, ‘push through pain’ mentalities that took their toll – and then I also had to deal with the impact that it had on Alex.”
“I learnt how many people in this world are sick and how many of them have to fight so hard to survive and work so hard to keep living their fullest lives within the limits of their illness just like Tyler did,” Alex wrote as well after the feature aired on television. “I learnt how much it takes to be a carer, the trauma it can leave, and how much of a journey it is to navigate the healthcare world. And I learnt what it means to love someone and be loved back in the most extreme of circumstances.”
Tyler Wright won the last two world titles in which she competed full-time (2016 and 2017) and beat everybody but Stephanie Gilmore in her first return to competition last year. There’s plenty of ammo to make the argument that without the interruption of influenza-A, she’s one of, if not the top competitive surfer in her prime. Details of her illness, recovery, and absence from surfing have mostly had to be pieced together to this point. The interview with 60 Minutes is now one of the more in-depth efforts to tell her story, including how her work with a neuro-orthopedic rehab specialist helped her recover.
