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A young man who died from fentanyl poisoning after trying to "fit in" saved three lives through organ donation . Chris LePage, 21, overdosed and ended up in hospital after a two-year dependence. He started smoking marijuana in school to be the "life of the party" before his habits progressed to harder drugs. His mum Maria, 60, and dad, John 65, drove seven hours to Boynton beach, Florida, when they got the call to say their son was in hospital. But they were told Chris, who was on a ventilator, had no brain activity - and made the decision to turn off life support. Before, Chris was able to donate his kidney, pancreas, and liver to save the lives of three different people. Maria, a nurse from Atlanta, Georgia, said: "It was the longest drive of my life. We were trying to figure out what to do and where we go from here. "Organ donation was something that Chris spoke about a lot. It was really important to us that he could do that. He donated his kidney, pancreas, and liver to three different people and saved their lives. Chris was finally at peace, but it was horrible. You leave your son in a hospital bed, they take his organs out, and then you drive home." Maria said that Chris was a "handsome boy" who would light up any room he went into. She said: "Chris was such a handsome boy. He was quiet, and then he became someone who would light up the room. "He started smoking pot in middle school. He was always wanting to fit in and be the life of the party. He progressed onto pills before coming to me and saying he had a problem. We got him into rehab, and he was there for six months before he left." In 2021, after meeting his then-girlfriend, Chris progressed to taking fentanyl. Maria said he would frequently come home and overdose. She said: "Things got really bad, and that was the downfall. Fentanyl became his drug of choice. My husband and I would have to call the ambulance for him when he overdosed. "Once he overdosed really badly in the middle of the night, and he had to go to the ICU for three days." At 3:30pm on April 7, 2023, Maria texted Chris asking what his plan was to get better and that he had to stop. She never got a reply to the text, and a few hours later, she got a call from the Baptist Health Bethesda Hospital East, Boyton Beach, Florida, to say that Chris had overdosed and was in the ER. Maria said: "My heart had dropped. I called my husband and told him we had to go to Florida. We made a 12-hour drive in seven hours. The nurse was updating me every two hours, and I just knew that we were going to lose him." On April 8, 2023, at 2am, Maria and John arrived at the hospital where Chris was being treated. Maria said Chris was brain-dead, so the family decided to turn off his life support after he donated his organs. She said: "They did some brain testing and breathing tests. He would never breathe on his own, and he had no brain activity. We decided to turn off his life support. "That day, Chris lost his life, but was able to save the lives of three others. He donated his kidney, pancreas, and liver to three different people. We were able to walk him to the OR and say our goodbyes before driving home." Maria doesn't know who received his organs, but said it is "meaningful" to the family that he was able to change three people's lives. She said that she wants Chris to be remembered as the man he was and not for the choices he made. Maria said: "Chris would always stick up for the underdog. He loved me tremendously, and he was very protective of his family. "I want him to be remembered for who he was, and I saw that with the number of people that turned up to his funeral. I am keeping his memory alive because I don't want people to forget about him."
