‘To anybody who takes chances with drugs: it’s not worth the risk. Say no’

“IT CAN and will happen to you, to me, to anybody who takes chances with drugs,” said Eric Doyle yesterday. “Don’t do it.”

The stark message was delivered at the funeral in Waterford city of Eric’s 21-year-old brother, Kevin Doyle, whose life and great potential were cut short after his experiment with illicit drugs had tragic consequences.

A little more than 11 days after Kevin attended a party in Ballybeg to celebrate the 21st birthday of Mark Grey, the young Waterford man was laid to rest yesterday afternoon in a windswept Ballygunner cemetery, following funeral Mass in a packed St Mary’s Church.

Mourners included Kevin’s parents Breda and John, and his other brother Ray, while dozens of his friends were also there to say goodbye.

Kevin Doyle had just beaten cancer and was determined to make the most of his life, an emotional congregation heard.

His passport — symbolising the love of travel that had taken him to Australia and the US — was one of the offertory gifts brought to the altar during the Mass, by friends Edward Crossan, Ciaran Doherty and Scott Corrigan. The other gifts were Kevin’s PlayStation controller and his ring.

Other friends, Louise Kerins and Chloe Doyle, performed the readings while the prayers of the faithful were said by Cormac McDonald, Gerald Phelan, Cathal O’Rourke, and Paul Fan.

In his eulogy, Eric Doyle described his late brother as one of the strongest people he knew, a person who used his strength to overcome serious illness, “from when he found out [he had cancer], all the way through until he got his remission.”

When he finally came out of the battle against cancer, Eric recalled, he was “determined to get his life back”. “His social life, a very important part of his life, had suffered through his illness and his friends had stood by him, and have done until this day.”

But he was also determined to build his career and he returned to college to study electronic engineering.

“Never one to sit on his hands, Kevin was not going to let life pass by,” said his heartbroken brother, before describing the 21-year-old as a “bright, intelligent and witty young man with potential limited only by his imagination”.

After telling the congregation that he wanted to say something about the manner of Kevin’s death, Eric said: “I think it’s fair to say that all young people have the attitude that ‘that will never happen to me’.

“Those who attended that party on that fateful night did not think it would happen to them. Our family didn’t think it would happen to us and Kevin, above all, did not believe it was going to happen to him. If there’s one message today, it’s that it can and will happen to you, to me, to anybody who takes chances with drugs. Don’t do it. It’s not worth the risk. Say no.”

In his homily, chief celebrant Fr John Treacy urged people to resist the “superficial” in life, saying: “All that glitters is not gold.”