Timmy Turner is from Huntington Beach, California. But the majority of his early years were spent saving money for extended missions to Indonesia. Timmy and his brother Ryan Turner along with Brett Schwartz, Travis Potter and photographer Dustin Humphreys epitomized youth on the run for the majority of the late ’90s and early 2000’s. The boys would go feral for weeks and months, camping and sitting on rare, secluded waves until they had their day. And boy did they score. They made an incredible film about it in 2004 called Second Thoughts (highly recommended viewing) that won Surfer Magazine’s film of the year award in 2004.

A year after winning that award, Timmy was down in Mexico chasing swell when he was hit with a severe fever. The fever turned out to be an aggressive form of staph that was aimed at his brain. Timmy spent a good amount of time in a coma and on many occasions the surf community braced for the reality of losing him. Timmy has since battled back. From everything. And now has 5 kids. Works full-time at Sugar Shack. Surfs regularly and still itches to get to Indo. Initially doctors told him not to return to Indo for risk of contracting staph again. So Timmy spent years focusing on cold locations instead. Camping in Canada. Scotland. Remote, snowy regions. Scoring as usual. But in late 2013 Timmy Turner was finally allowed to make his return to the place and wave he loves so much: a dry left hander in Indonesia that is so shallow it’s mandatory you wear a 4/3, booties and a helmet.

We caught up with Timmy during his St. Patrick’s Day shift at Sugar Shack Cafe to relive his return and his footage from the self-documented return journey to Indo. Think he was stoked? See for yourself. Our feel good hit of the spring.