Parents of overdose victim call for change

Kelly Best (supplied)

Don Best and Marie Agioritis hope the tragic events of their youngest son’s death will save their oldest son’s life.

“We can’t lose another son,” Agioritis said.

Kelly Best, 19, died late in the morning Jan. 3 after snorting a small piece of a counterfeit OxyContin pill. The pill contained a lethal dose of fentanyl, a drug considered much more powerful than heroin.

The death was the third in five months in Saskatoon associated with the counterfeit drugs and especially shocking to Kelly’s parents because they have focused so much attention over the last few years on their oldest son’s addiction problems.

“Kelly was the one, maybe, who needed more help than anybody,” said his father.

Kelly was a kind, funny, well-liked person, his parents said. Over 800 people attended his funeral. He was a calming figure for his parents but they had no idea he recently started using small doses of drugs.

“Kelly was so afraid to share with us,” Don said.

Kelly’s older brother, Kayle, has dealt with drug issues for about three years, according to his parents. The 21-year-old, who is a new father, has spent time in rehabilitation in B.C. and only recently started to get clean.

“I’m hoping that these things that have happened will save his life,” Don said.

Both Don and Agioritis said they want Kelly’s death to prompt change — change to addiction services, change to the judicial system, change to drug education.

They want to see harsher punishments for drug dealers and improved addiction services in Saskatchewan.

“I’m not saying Kelly was innocent. Kelly knew what he was doing. He took that pill, but he’s dead. He is paying his dues right now. What about the dude that sold the pill?” said Kelly’s mother.

The parents urged friends of young people who may be dealing with drug problems to step forward.

“We had heard after the fact,” Don said of Kelly’s recent drug use. “Friends said, ‘Yeah, we had kind of known Kelly was struggling.’ So I implore the friends… if you have friends who are struggling, don’t wait, because then it’s too late.”

The parents also stated that finding satisfactory addiction treatment for Kayle in Saskatchewan was hard.

“What I found with my other son, trying to go through a process of finding help for addiction or finding help for these kids is literally impossible,” said Don.

The family was fortunate enough to be able to afford $30,000 worth of treatment for Kayle in B.C.

Most families can’t afford expensive treatment, said Don and Agioritis.