'I can't imagine anything worse': Victoria schools mourn overdose death of teen

The Greater Victoria School District will have extra support for students on hand this week, following the death of a Vancouver Island teen who died from an accidental overdose over the weekend.  

Elliot Eurchuk, 16, died at his Oak Bay home on Friday.

His parents say Elliot's drug use started with prescription drugs. He had faced a number of surgeries over the past couple years for sports-related injuries and had been prescribed opioids.

They believe he later turned to street drugs to help him sleep.

'Supports in place'

Piet Langstraat, the district superintendent, said the entire community has been touched by the teen's death.   

Elliot had been attending Oak Bay High School and moved to Mount Douglas Secondary School in the fall, Langstraat said.

"This morning, we had two school communities and our entire school district affected by this really tragic incident," he told Gregor Craigie, host of CBC's On The Island.

A critical incident response team of counsellors and senior staff will be onsite to offer support.  

"Some [students] would have known Elliot really well and some would not have been part of that same group of kids with him," he said.

"[We are] very aware of those dynamics that occur in a school and making sure that we have the supports in place to help everyone."

'More we can do'

Langstraat said more education and support outreach is needed starting at an early age in middle school and continuing throughout high school to reach young people affected by the opioid crisis.

"There is more that we can do as a school system and there is more that we can do as a community," he said. "Incidents like this certainly highlight that for all of us."

Health Minister Adrian Dix said the coroners office is investigating the death.

"There will be a review and all of the questions surrounding it will be asked in that review and it may be that recommendations are made," said Dix, who expressed his condolences to Elliot's family, friends and acquaintances.

"I respect, amidst what is obviously their grief, the parents speaking out and talking about the opioid crisis and expressing both their frustration and their pain in the public realm," he said. "It takes enormous courage."

Mental Health and Addictions Minister Judy Darcy said she had reached out to Elliot's parents and hoped to meet them later this week.

"As a mother of a son, I can't imagine anything worse than this," Darcy said

"It is families of all walks of life. It is people of all ages in all corners of British Columbia that are affected by this overdose crisis. It's not somebody over there: it's all of us. It's all families."

Darcy said she was looking forward to Island Health's review of the death.

With files from On The Island, Martin Diotte and Megan Thomas