A survivor from Columbine School, substance abuse advocate, aged 37, found dead

A survivor of the Columbine shooting was found dead at his home, twenty years after being shot twice and having his best friend murdered in front of him.

Austin Eubanks, 37, was found at his home in Steamboat Springs on Saturday morning. There was no sign of foul play and an autopsy is scheduled for Monday to determine the cause of death.

Just over a month ago, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the shooting, Eubanks told DailyMail.com how he had sunk in the abuse of opioids and alcohol to alleviate the pain .

Eubanks described his difficult and inspiring journey to sobriety and how he became an advocate for the fight against drug addiction, traveling the country telling his story.

The Eubanks family said in a statement that he "had lost the battle against the very illness with which he had fought so hard to help others cope."

The family added, "We thank the recovery community for their support. As you can imagine, we are more than shocked and saddened and ask that our privacy be respected at the present time. & # 39;

His Twitter account indicates that his last commitment to speaking out was the Connecticut Conference on Prescription Drug and Drug Prevention in 2019.

Eubanks was just 17-year-old when shots were fired in the hallways of Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.

"I used to meet my best friend, Corey DePooter, at the library and discuss what we were going to do after school," Eubanks told DailyMail.com, when An exclusive interview in April.

"When we sat down, it was at that time that the shooting started. A teacher shouted at us to hide under tables, but I remember most people got up.

"It was 1999, no one knew what a powerful shootout in the hallways of a high school looked like.

"Then she shouted at us again and we realized it was serious, so Corey and I hid under a table when gunmen opened fire. They went methodically from one section to the other until ours.

It was at that point that Eubanks stated that he was disconnected from reality. Klebold fired several shots under the table, hitting him in the leg and hand.

He survived and pretended to be dead, but his friend was not so lucky. The bullets pierced DePooter's neck, chest and arms, killing him instantly.

"I was lying there, playing dead. I had been hit twice but I knew that Corey was gone – he was the last person killed in the shootout that day. & # 39;

Satisfied with their actions, the gunmen moved until, when the coast was clear, the surviving Eubanks and students fled.

"My right hand was bleeding but I could not feel any pain or record what was going on. I was dissociated and I had not even realized that my leg had been injured before trying to run.

"I was taken to the hospital for treatment and that's when my story really began.

Eubanks revealed that he was so unable to deal with his grief that he became addicted to opioids in order to alleviate agony with daily consumption of alcohol and alcohol. Prescription painkillers.

"I was on 7.5 mg of Vicodin to start with another medication to help cope with sleep and shock. I turned into a robot without emotion until I could not feel anything.

"When I took these substances, things felt better. I did not cry so much, things did not hurt me as much.

Rapidly, alcohol abuse at Eubank has led to marijuana, then to ecstasy and cocaine and even during its worst period, heroin.

It was all about repelling all the emotions – sorrow, anger, guilt of hopelessness – to survive one day when 13 others did not.

Although his wife then encouraged him to participate in a 28-day recovery program, Eubanks was unable to defeat his demons and quickly returned to his habits.

At the height of his addiction, he says that he was taking 400 mg of Oxycontin, a highly dependent and potentially life-threatening pain reliever, more than 40 times the initial dose prescribed by doctors.

"Dependent brains do not make sober decisions and I came back to life after 28 days of treatment, and then my situation worsened. Then I went on treatment for 90 days and again, I slowly found old behaviors with old friends.

One night, he woke up in prison without remembering how he had arrived there. He fainted in a restaurant and was taken to the streets, amazed by the drugs.

This moment, he decided, was the bottom of stone on which he would lay the foundations of his new life.

"At the age of 29, in 2011, I continued my treatment for 14 months, after which I finally began to deal with the victim's guilt. It was only then that I went through the stages of mourning that I would have had to go through at 17 years old. & # 39;

Eubanks told DailyMail.com that he passionately believed that the American hurry to cure the pain instead of focusing on the deepest human connection is one of the biggest problems she faces today. 39; hui.

"We are creating a country that is a powder keg, filled with loneliness, isolation, rage and division.

"It's because of a lack of human connection and because everything is designed to make you feel good and addictive."

Eubanks was committed to helping people with trauma and turning to substances to disconnect from reality.

As the days passed until April 20, 2019, Eubanks stated that his dear friend DePooter was never far from his mind.

He kept a picture of himself in his office and at home – to remind him, not of the sorrow, but the good times they shared.

In previous years, he himself marked the day with fly fishing – a passion that he and his best friend share together. This allowed him to be in the present moment and introspective.

This year was Florida for Easter, attending a religious service on a beach surrounded by friends and relatives.

"I have a picture of him in my office. I have a picture of him at my place. I no longer think about sadness, I think of the happy times when he was fishing for fly fishing and playing golf. & # 39;

Eubanks tragically left two girls and one ex-wife behind him.