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THE last thing Mitch Davies did for his little brother Kody was to stop him on the driveway and forced him to empty his pockets.

Kody said he was going for a walk. Mitch assumed it was to take drugs.

It was the last time he saw him alive.

An hour later, he was staring down at Kody’s “smirking but peaceful” face looking back at him.

There was no note, no hug goodbye. It was over.

Kody and Mitch Davies were six years apart, but shared a bond only brothers can have.

Kody had been battling an ice addiction for seven years before the “voice in his head” told him to take his own life.

He was just 25.

He had a stable job, came from a loving, generous family and had great mates.

At 17, the world was very much his oyster.

He had grand plans to own his own trawling business, become a father and continue to “sh-t-stir” his older brother.

Ice put an end to that.

Kody Davies with Mitch’s 4-year-old daughter Gracie. Kody cared for her like she was his own child.

“He started at parties at 17, just with ecstasy back then. Then it snowballed. He wouldn’t touch anything other than ice,” Mitch said.

For seven years, Kody battled – his life constantly shrouded by “chaos”.

The Davies family gave him unwavering support and seven times Kody went to rehab programs: some successful for a while, some not.

But he was unable to shake the drug habit.

“He tried. He tried so hard, and I know he wanted to change,” Mitch said.

“My parents bent over backwards to help him. They tried everything.

“It has broken them. Dad, especially, is struggling.”

Ice was a scourge in Mitch’s life, too. He was also hooked as a teen by the “monster” drug.

Mitch said two things got him clean.

“People think I got clean for my daughter Gracie. That’s partly true,” he said in his eulogy for Kody last week.

“But in all truth, I think it was to be a role model and someone my brother could look up to.

“We, as a family, were really looking forward to the future, of both of us being clean together. And not worrying.

“Playing golf with dad. Him having a child of his own. The way he used to play with my daughter is something I’ll really miss. He would stir her up, but so lovingly.”

Mitch truly believes there was nothing he could have done to stop Kody taking his own life.

“When he walked out the door, I honestly thought he was going to use again, so I stopped him,” he said.

“There was no indication at all. No tell-tale sign. He just knew what he was going to do.

“But why not give me a hug? Why not say goodbye? And that’s what kills me.”

Tributes have flowed for the 25-year-old on social media since his death

Donna Somerville-O’Halloran posted: “Had the pleasure of meeting Kody when he was a young lad with the world at his feet. Devastating news.”

Julz Quinn wrote: “Kody was such a funny, kind and gentle young man. He really wanted recovery. RIP.”

Pam Tomkins said: “It was the saddest and most heartbreaking funeral I have been to for a very long time.”

Lisa Mason wrote: “Kody was a beautiful soul. His parents went above and beyond to help him. A young man I loved dearly, my heart is broken.”

Boreen Point resident Trevor Clarey was Kody’s great uncle, he said the funeral service was “brutally frank” and left those in attendance shaken.

He said his heart ached for his extended family.

“For this to happen to such a gentle, soft, intelligent family is gut wrenching,” Mr Clarey said.

“This insidious drug is claiming and destroying lives.

“It is so sad to see.

“Life is too precious. I will be 75 in March, Kody was one-third my age.”

FRANCIS Mclaughlan first turned to the bottle to “dumb out” the memories of a 17-year-old boy who died in his arms after a drag race gone wrong.

It was in 2004 when Mr Mclaughlan became caught up in a crash out of his control.

The teenage driver was severely injured after speeding at 150km/h and slamming into Mr Mclaughlan’s vehicle.

It tragically left one dead and a lasting impact on Mr Mclaughlan.

“I was never a drinker, but it made me drink. I thought he was trying to talk to me and I wanted to dumb it out,” Mr Mclaughlan candidly told the Daily.

“He hit me head-on and died in my arms. I had post traumatic stress disorder every day.”

Seeking help led to Mr Mclaughlan founding The Health Retreat where he began a passion for helping tackle mental health disorders.

He says young men are “dying like flies” unable to take the first steps to turn their lives around.

“Men are wired differently, we supposedly cope better, and keep it bottled up inside, but you’re no good dead,” he said.

“We are losing generations and it’s scary.

“Everyone has their own reasons why, being bullied, beaten up, in the wrong crowd, so many pressures.

“Most blokes haven’t got the support they need.”

Over the next month, Mr Mclaughlan will attempt to raise both $50,000 and awareness of the highest killers of men – mental health and prostate cancer.

Part of the Movember campaign, Mr Mclaughlan will take part in the Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride in Noosa on September 30.

He’s already raised more than $1600 and while the $50,000 goal might seem lofty, he doesn’t “do things by halves”.

“I want to become the top in Australia, then the rest of the world,” he said.

“I plan to send out thousands of emails and follow up calls to get people to donate. Every bit helps.”

Follow this link to his fundraiser.

The Movember Foundation has already funded more than 1200 men’s health projects with a unique focus on global collaboration.

The money from this year’s ride will be split between prostate cancer clinical research, prostate cancer health services and men’s mental health and suicide prevention projects.

The goals are to reduce suicide rates by 25 per cent and half the number of men dying from prostate cancer and halve the number of men experiencing serious ongoing mental and physical side effects of prostate cancer treatment.

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IT’S the killer that shows no mercy and doesn’t discriminate, with the most innocent often amongst its many casualties.

Experts say Sunshine Coast residents are facing an ice “pandemic” with children as young as 13, the elderly and high-profile professionals using the addictive drug.

The Health Retreat founder Francis McLachlan said it was a problem that used to be only in tourist hot spots, but has now reached every small town in the area.

His concerns come after the State Government announced a $5.4 million pledge to help regional families combat ice addiction, which Mr McLachlan scoffed at.

He said it was a “drop in the ocean” and that $200 million was needed to fix the “multi-faceted” problem.

“If you asked around, around 60-70 per cent of people would know someone who uses. It is so prevalent out there,” Mr McLachlan said.

“Ice addiction is like poker machines on steroids. And the use of meth here has gone through the roof.

“You used to only be able to find it in Mooloolaba, Maroochydore, now it’s in every single suburb.”

He says the problem starts with children at an early age, usually lured in by other substances.

Almost one in three children who go into state care have a parent with a current or previous meth problem.

“We are getting a lot of mums and dads through at the moment,” he said. “But it is so much further than that. We see kids younger than 13 hooked.

“It is everywhere if you know where to look. You just have to walk around the shopping centres or fast food outlets.

“Addiction can start from mental health problems, painkiller addiction, car accidents, marijuana.”

Minister for Health Steven Miles argued the government was committed to addressing the ongoing issue of drug abuse in Queensland.

“We’ve invested $350 million in mental health and drug services as part of the Palaszczuk Government’s Connecting Care to Recovery 2016-2021 plan.”

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