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He was a high school student with dreams of becoming a military sharp shooter. Friday night, the parents of a Cumberland County teenager thought their son was asleep, but made a horrifying discovery.
17-year-old Kyle Myers was a junior at Carlisle High School. He died at home this weekend, his parents say, after abusing pain medication.
"That's about the hardest thing I ever had to go through," said Kyle's father Rodney Myers.
Kyle spent Friday night at home with family. He fell asleep at one point. Kyle's dad went to check on him.
"We noticed his fingertips were purple and face was purple. That's when I flipped him over, she called 911 and I started CPR on him. But they told me it didn't matter. He was already dead," said Myers.
Rodney later found out his son ingested gel from at least one fentanyl patch. It's highly potent prescription pain medication. The patch is intended to be worn on the skin, not taken orally. Toxicology expert Doctor Ward Donovan says fentanyl abuse is a growing problem among teens and young adults. He calls it a modern plague.
"God wanted him and it was his time. He was too young," said Kyle's mother, Synthia Myers
Months ago, the Myers realized Kyle was using drugs. He overdosed on pain pills once before. They contacted Children and Youth Services to get their son counseling and treatment.
"I just feel that they didn't do enough. My wife tried to send him to rehab. It was always a money thing," said Myers.
The Myers say county workers were supposed to drug test their son twice a week, but hadn't tested him in two weeks prior to his death.
"If you're doing drugs stop. Just stop. It's not worth it," said Synthia Myers.
State police are calling this a death investigation and aren't releasing any other information at this time. There's no official word about how and where Kyle Myers got the fentanyl.
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