The Japan Times - 'Backs to the Wall' for surfing's cancer survivor Flores

Within months of stepping away from competition, Flores, the most successful male European in surfing history, was diagnosed with a brain tumour that turned his life upside down.

He survived to tell the tale, after years of silence, in a new documentary "Dos au mur" ("Backs to the Wall") which premiered in Paris on Wednesday.

"I told myself it was time to talk about it," he told AFP.

"I needed to get it off my chest, to send a message to my children and others who might need it. This was clearly the hardest ordeal of my life."

- Inoperable -

Flores was born in Reunion, an island in the Indian Ocean which is a paradise for surfers - in spite of the large number of sharks.

His father Patrick coached him from the age of three and he duly became one of the best in the world, competing for 15 years on the professional circuit, winning four prestigious championship tour events.

Blessed with talent in the tubes, he was also quick with his temper.

"I think I've got the most fines on the professional tour," he admits in the film which is directed by Julie and Vincent Kardasik.

Yet in 2021, having become a father for the second time, he decided to retire without really explaining why.

"For several years, I had a lot of migraines," he tells AFP. "I was always tired, unmotivated."

A few months later, he was diagnosed with a tumour at the base of his brain. Worse yet, many surgeons considered it inoperable.

"That explained why I wasn't feeling my best. The news shattered me," admits Flores.

Brain tumour survival rates do not make pretty reading: just a third make it through five years although that figure improves for people under 40, according to medical figures in France.

In theory Flores stood a fighting chance if he could find a surgeon who would operate. Fortunately he did.

In 2022, he finally underwent brain surgery in Montpellier supervised by pioneering neurosurgeon Hugues Duffau. Flores was awake for all of it.

"The operation went well," he recalls, still traumatised by the operation and the effects.

"After that, it was a mission. I'd been warned. I had to relearn how to speak, write, and read.

"I suffered significant memory loss. My children had become strangers to me."

But with the constant support of his wife Hinarani de Longeaux, a model and former Miss Tahiti winner, Flores began to rebuild. He also had the support of the surf community, notably his old friend and rival Kelly Slater.

"He called me almost every day, before, during, and after the operation," says Flores. "I was lucky to have great support."

- Olympic gold -

A little over a year after the operation, he was invited by the French Surfing Federation to manage the surf team at the 2024 Olympics: the event was to take place in Teahupo'o, Tahiti, where he had lived for several years.

"I thought: why not? This will allow me to stimulate my brain, and surfing is what I do best," he says.

The team consisted of four surfers who included his sister-in-law Vahine Fierro, and a young Tahitian Kauli Vaast who, according to Flores, was a natural on the pro tour.

The veteran turned coach convinced them that they had what it took to win everything. And it worked.

Fierro won the Tahiti Pro in 2024, the first French winner since Flores in 2015 while the team picked up two Olympic medals.

Johanne Defay took bronze in the women's shortboard while Vaast went on to win gold in the men's shortboard, with Flores screaming his support from the water during every round.

"It was truly special, the highlight of my career," says Flores.

"He's my little brother, and I'm very attached to the notion of passing on the knowledge. I experienced it as a cycle."

Three years after his operation, Flores' memory is "gradually returning". The tumour, however, is still there, a reminder of the dark days of 2021 even if it no longer haunts him.

"I continue to monitor it with MRIs every three months," says Flores with a clear-eyed calm.

"You have to keep an eye on its size, take it seriously, but above all, you have to keep moving forward."

T.Kobayashi--JT