Kyler Efinger, 30, tragically died after climbing into the turbine of a Delta jet at Salt Lake City International Airport.
He had experienced a mental health crisis due to airport delays, missing a flight to see his dying grandfather.
His father mentioned that Kyler struggled with bipolar disorder and faced bullying in college.
“After 10 years you sort of get good at seeing the behavior. You know, he just gets really short and high energy. So, then it turns to triggers and things that trigger him — his journey through the airport, he had a bunch of triggering events,” Efinger said.
“He was sort of profiled in TSA,” the man’s father stated. “And then he missed his flight because of the extended TSA. And once he missed his flight, he called me and I could just tell that this was not going to end well.”
“I would just encourage other families that are going through this, it’s just not OK. It’s masking some of the issues, and really should have been going to professional doctors and therapists.”
WATCH: The family of the man killed when he crawled into a jet engine Monday at the @slcairport says he was bipolar, and having a manic episode.
The family of Kyler Efinger says he was on his way to say goodbye to his dying grandfather in Denver. @KSL5TVhttps://t.co/Fjru1hQtki
— Lindsay Aerts (@LindsayOnAir) January 4, 2024
“I would just encourage any parents going through this to really push for that. And it’s tough when they’re adults because they can make their own choices,” he said.
“A lot of kids just made fun of him for being hyper, but he was always well-intentioned and just a real sweet kid. So it really was the sort of traumatic events in college. But it was just, you know, heavily influenced by bullying, and he just could never quite understand why folks would treat him like that,” he said.
“We hope he is in a happier place. And you know, we are going to really miss him. We just really want to honor Kyler and mental health issues and try to help the next family. And I think that’s what we’ll be focused on in the coming years here,” Efinger said.
The family hopes to honor Kyler’s memory and raise awareness about mental health issues.
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