Stephen Austin Eubanks (October 7, 1981 – May 18, 2019) was an American motivational speaker on addiction and recovery. He was a survivor of the

Columbine High School massacre On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher. ...

, in which his best friend, 17-year-old Corey DePooter, was killed and Eubanks was shot in his hand and knee. Eubanks struggled with

opioid addiction Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a substance use disorder characterized by cravings for opioids, continued use despite physical and/or psychological deterioration, increased tolerance with use, and withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing opioids. Op ...

after the shooting. Eubanks was the chief operations officer for the Foundry Treatment Center. He died of a

heroin overdose An opioid overdose is toxicity due to excessive consumption of opioids, such as morphine, codeine, heroin, fentanyl, tramadol, and methadone. This preventable pathology can be fatal if it leads to respiratory depression, a lethal condition tha ...

in 2019.

Early life and education

Eubanks was born on October 7, 1981. When he was 11, his father, an engineer, moved the family from a small town in Oklahoma to Denver. After struggling to fit in at a larger school, Eubanks's parents allowed him to attend

Columbine High School Columbine High School (CHS) is a public high school in Columbine, Colorado, United States, in the Denver metropolitan area. It is part of the Jefferson County Public Schools district. In 1999, it became the scene of an infamous mass shooti ...

out of district. He met his friend Corey DePooter at the end of their freshman year. At age 17, Eubanks was in the library at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, when

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold Eric David Harris (April 9, 1981 – April 20, 1999) and Dylan Bennet Klebold (; September 11, 1981 – April 20, 1999) were an American mass murder duo who perpetrated the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. Harris and Klebold ...

attacked the school. Eubanks ducked under his table with DePooter, another student, Jennifer Doyle, and a second unidentified student. Harris and Klebold soon entered the library and after a while, approached their table. Harris shot and injured Doyle and DePooter. Klebold shot Eubanks in his hand and knee before killing DePooter, with Eubanks witnessing his friend's death. Harris and Klebold soon after left the library and, fearing that they would return, Eubanks and other survivors fled through the library's emergency exit. Harris and Klebold would go on to kill 12 students and one teacher, injure 24 others and then die by suicide. Eubanks did not return to Columbine High School after the shooting and was instead privately tutored at home three days a week until he graduated in 2000. Within weeks of the shooting, Eubanks developed an opioid addiction that continued into his twenties. In 2006, Eubanks recognized that he had developed tolerance for prescription medications of

oxycodone Oxycodone, sold under various brand names such as Roxicodone and OxyContin (which is the extended release form), is a strong, semi-synthetic opioid used medically for treatment of moderate to severe pain. It is highly addictive and a commonly ...

(OxyContin),

Adderall Adderall and Mydayis are trade names for a combination drug called mixed amphetamine salts containing four salts of amphetamine. The mixture is composed of equal parts racemic amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, which produces a (3:1) ratio bet ...

, and

alprazolam Alprazolam, sold under the brand name Xanax, among others, is a fast-acting, potent tranquilizer of medium duration in the triazolobenzodiazepine (TBZD) class, which are benzodiazepines (BZDs) fused with a triazole ring. It is most commonly u ...

(Xanax). He then began using cocaine, ecstasy, and alcohol. Starting in 2006, Eubanks entered

residential treatment center A residential treatment center (RTC), sometimes called a rehab, is a live-in health care facility providing therapy for substance use disorders, mental illness, or other behavioral problems. Residential treatment may be considered the "last-ditch ...

s three times without success.

Career

Eubanks accomplished longer-term sobriety at the age of 29 after experiencing rock bottom on April 2, 2011, when he woke up in jail without any memory of what took place. Eubanks became a motivational public speaker. From 2015 to 2019, he was the chief operations officer for the Foundry Treatment Center in Steamboat Springs. He was a member of nonprofit boards and was the operations director of NorthStar Transitions in

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

. Eubanks was the executive director of Quiet River Transitional Recovery Community in Denver. On May 2, 2019, sixteen days before his death, Eubanks spoke at the 2019 Connecticut Opioid and Prescription Drug Prevention Conference.

Personal life

Eubanks married at the age of 25 but divorced four years later. He had two sons from his marriage. Eubanks was engaged to Alex Dooley. On April 2, 2016, Eubanks celebrated five years of sobriety. His body was found during a welfare check on May 18, 2019, at his residence in

Steamboat Springs, Colorado The City of Steamboat Springs is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Routt County, Colorado, United States. Steamboat Springs is the principal city of the Steamboat Springs, CO Micropolitan Sta ...

. He was 37. His family confirmed that he died of an overdose. It was later confirmed the overdose was heroin.

Charity

Eubanks's family set up a memorial fund in his name to collect tax-deductible donations. In partnership with The Onsite Foundation, a nonprofit that provides counseling and emotional health education, the family launched a therapeutic program for survivors of mass violence. The program, called Triumph Over Tragedy, was created to honor the life of Austin Eubanks, a champion for trauma-based causes and programs. His girlfriend, Laura Hutfless, helps lead the effort as a member of the foundation board.

References

External links