Man shares photo of brother in body bag to raise drug awareness

Tristen Miller shared a photo of his brother to warn others about the dangers of addiction. (Fox 29)

A Pennsylvania man reeling from the death of his brother shared a photo of his sibling in a body bag to try to help others battling heroin and opioid addiction. Tristen Miller said he hopes sharing his family’s pain on social media has inspired people to start having difficult conversations with their loved ones, Fox 29 reported.

“With my brother’s case it was, ‘I smoke weed to numb the pain,’ then it was, ‘I got injured and got hooked on pain medicines,’” Miller, whose age was not disclosed, told Fox 29.

After his younger brother Tyler’s death last week, Miller said he felt compelled to show others the reality of addiction.

“You don’t ever see the reality of somebody’s point of view,” he told Fox 29. “That was me standing on the porch watching the coroners roll down my steps.”

Miller told the news station that initially he wasn’t sure how people would respond to the image.

“Everyone was sharing it, saying that this is the hard reality, this is the truth, this is what nobody wants to see, but this is reality. You will one day, if you continue to use drugs, take that ride,” Miller told Fox 29.

Miller said he now plans to work to help addicts get the treatment and support they need.