Two young surfers die in each other's arms in suspected double opioid overdose
Michelle Avila, 23, and Christian Kent, 20, were madly in love and planned to travel the world together, but instead the two sun-kissed surfers lost their lives on Oct. 14, lying side by side in bed, in a suspected drug overdose. Now Michelle’s parents, who said there were “zero signs” this would happen, are speaking out to raise awareness of the country’s ongoing opioid epidemic.
The pair had returned home from a party that evening and were still recovering from colds. Michelle said goodnight to her mother, Adriana, before heading up to her bedroom with Christian to get some rest before working a 6 a.m. shift at a Newport Beach, Calif., coffee shop, where she met Christian a year prior, according to the Mirror. Her mother said she had carefully laid out her clothes for the next day before falling asleep in her boyfriend’s arms.
But 6 a.m. came and went, and by 4 p.m., Adriana came home from work to discover the couple dead in Michelle’s childhood bed. “They both died and they were hugging each other,” her father, Paulo, told the Mirror. “Two beautiful kids. It was like Romeo and Juliet.” Despite seeming to take comfort in the idea that the two had each other close by in their final moments, though, Paulo and Adriana are devastated by the loss — and disturbed that the suspected cause of death was a drug overdose.
Just hangin out wearin @sabre_eyewear 🌴with @kentdothat || shot by @madisonxhooper
A post shared by Michelle △ Avila (@_michelleavila_) on Oct 10, 2018 at 3:38pm PDT
Toxicology results from the Orange County Coroner will take months to complete, according to the Orange County Register, but Paulo says he’s certain drugs were the culprit. The tragedy, he feels, is a reminder that opioid addiction doesn’t discriminate. “Parents need to know their kids are not safe,” he told the Mirror. Ironically, he had relocated his family from Los Angeles to Newport Beach, reports the Mirror, because he thought it was safer. “You’re supposed to care for what God gave you, and she was God’s gift,” he said. “That’s what’s eating me, from inside out. How come I failed? It just destroys me.”
Drug overdoses are the leading cause of death for Americans under 50, according to the New York Times. Drugs accounted for more than 72,000 deaths in the U.S. in 2017, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which estimates that 115 Americans die each day from opioid overdoses. Drug abuse is especially rampant in the surfer community, which both Michelle and Christian belonged to. A recent study by the Orange County Health Care Agency revealed that seven out of every 10 overdose deaths investigated by the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner during 2011 and 2015 involved opioids.
Michelle and Christian are likely two among countless others to succumb to the deadly temptation of opioids — but to those who loved them, they were so much more. Michelle is remembered as a straight-A student who even received a letter from President Bush commending her academic success in her earlier years. She was an avid surfer, of course — a skill she learned from Paulo — as well as a part-time model, and she aspired to be a journalist, according to the Mirror. “She loved writing, she loved to write, she loved speech,” Paulo said.
A post shared by Michelle △ Avila (@_michelleavila_) on Sep 5, 2018 at 9:31am PDT
She was also passionately in love with her boyfriend, even writing “Love Christian” among the many daily reminders-to-self that her family found scattered in her room. In an online love letter to her beau after he left for college, Michelle wrote, “It’s crazy how two souls can connect so deeply & quickly … can’t wait for some more amazing memories to be made. I remember the day you came into my work, smiled at me with those eyes and asked me for my number. You found me at just the right time, and life has been one hell of a ride since!”
Photos of the pair on Michelle’s Instagram show a carefree couple who loved to hang out on the beach, play guitar and be affectionate. Christian’s Instagram is private, and so far his family has not made a public comment about his death.
But Michelle’s sister, Nicole, whose Instagram is also private, penned a heartfelt tribute to the family’s friends and loved ones, writing in a post via Michelle’s Instagram account: “I am shaken and heartbroken. … My family and I are sticking together through this difficult time and we are awaiting the official news of how everything happened. We are seeing everyone’s messages and we appreciate all the love and prayers. My baby sister is gone and Christian who I also loved. She is resting in peace with her coffee, her music and with Christian. I’ll always love you my sister.”
A post shared by MADISON ☾ (@madisonxhooper) on Jul 2, 2018 at 5:22pm PDT
Michelle’s friends have launched a GoFundMe campaign in the young woman’s memory. The page, called Remembering Michelle Avila, calls her “a beautiful girl, creative, hilarious; loved art, music, writing poetry and coffee.” Her family remembers her similarly, noting that she was also a free spirit who’d spent the past few years traveling to Indonesia, Costa Rica and Brazil, and was studying communications at Orange Coast College — though she and Christian had planned to transfer to California State University, Long Beach, together in the spring, according to the Mirror.
The GoFundMe page had raised almost $7,500 of its $10,000 goal as of Wednesday morning, and some donors are asking how the family plans to use the money. Paulo said he wants to use any money raised to start a program to educate youth about drug use. “My mission, at least on my coast from Seal Beach to San Clemente, is to send a message,” he told the Orange County Register. “To show how beautiful people can go through something like that. You’re protected by nothing. This is the proof that what looks perfect, is not perfect.”
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