Watch this man desperately chase the plane that was about to take off to Delta 155. There was a man running down the runway; he ran around the airport and managed to get onto the runway without anyone trying to stop him.

“2348, a guy on foot. Uh, yeah, might be the guy you’re looking for.”

He thought that he could still enter the plane and make it to his flight, but his desperation only led him to the biggest tragedy of not only his life but also the lives of the people who loved him the most. The police came and knocked on our door at, you know, 1:00 at night to give us the news that you know no parents ever want to hear. It’s heartbreaking how the first day of 2024 became the last day of this man’s life. And some of you will think that he acted irresponsibly, but once you know the reason, you will really change your mind.

These are the final hours of the man who chased a moving plane. Kyler Effinger, who had just celebrated Christmas with his beautiful and loving family. At that moment, of course, no one knew it was Kyler’s last Christmas ever. He texted on his way home that, um, it was the best Christmas ever. A week later, he posted a fun video on December 31st, 2023, just the night before the tragedy.

“All right, it’s ready. This is take two.”

That was his last post ever. You can see he was having a good time; he was even teasing his friend who made a mistake while taking a video of him. He said, “I’ll post this selfie on my story so it disappears after 24 hours.” This is quite chilling to read now because indeed it was his final 24 hours.

The next day, January 1st, this was Kyler arriving at the Salt Lake International Airport before 5:00 p.m. Just look at these moments; it feels like an ordinary day. Kyler was on his way to Colorado Springs to visit his grandfather who was very sick. He wanted to be with him before it’s too late. Can you just see how sad it is? You want to be with your loved one during their final moments; you want to spend time with them, whatever’s left of it, but you have no idea you’re never going to make it because you are the one who’s living your own final moments right now.

At first, Kyler planned to drive for 9 hours, but his father didn’t want him to drive and be alone for so long. And very soon, you will know why. Kyler’s dad bought him the ticket, and everything seemed normal. He got himself checked in, but the moment he reached their security, everything started to happen really fast. He sent his dad a message that he felt like the security was profiling him. He was held up for so long that he missed his flight. He was close to saving his own life with it. Eventually, the security let him go.

From that moment on, Kyler started behaving differently, and that would go on for the next 4 hours. He started running around the airport as fast as he could, and I want you to really watch these videos closely. He dropped his things, argued with airport staff, sat beside the moving walkways, and ran again while carrying his own shoes.

9:51 p.m. This was Kyler going from one boarding gate to another. He was trying to open doors; he even asked for help from an airport staff. At this point, someone had reported Kyler to the authorities.

“I’m clean. It’s to file a report on a white male individual that is accusing his employees and accusing him of stealing his bag. A male is wearing a yellow jersey, brown pants with no shoes.”

And so, at 9:53 p.m., you can see he became even more desperate. He used all his strength to open this door, but he kept failing. He tried breaking the windows by hand and by throwing his shoes against them. You can just see how badly he wanted to see his grandpa.

9:56 p.m. Kyler realized he could try going through an emergency exit. By this time, the airport authorities started to look for him, but he now managed to get onto the runway.

“Tower, Delta 1505, there was a man running down the runway.”

They communicated with pilots of aircrafts that were about to take off that night, asking them if they’ve seen a man on the runway.

“Was this person that just to the left of the center line, uh, the alpha 3, alpha 4, probably on the runway and and waving their arms with it. Looked like a yellow safety vest.”

Don’t believe for a few more minutes, no one could locate Kyler. They said there was a man running down 34 left.

“We’ve kind of got a situation going on with 34 left with a possible um, there might be a guy out there running around. That’s what the police you’re looking for.”

But by 10:04 p.m., one pilot finally saw him.

“2348, a guy on foot. Uh, yeah, might be the guy you’re looking for.”

“2348, thanks. Yeah, just hold position there and if you can keep an eye on him, keep me posted to where he’s at.”

“Well, D crew might have a better eye on him. He ran from the front to the back.”

10:08 p.m. Kyler was seen underneath an aircraft and had accessed the engine.

“So have the tower contacted aircraft and shut the engine down.”

And that’s when the authorities came, only to find Kyler unconscious. They had to pull him out because he was partially inside a wing-mounted engine. They tried their best to save him, but you know it already; it was too late. After 4 hours of running around the airport, Kyler had passed away at 1:00 a.m. of January 2nd.

Kyler’s parents received the most devastating news, and it seemed like they already knew why all of this happened.

“You know, he got held up in security, um, missed his flight, and those phone calls. I just knew, you know. They call it the manic face.”

Kyler had been suffering from bipolar disorder. That’s why his dad didn’t want him to drive for 9 hours alone, but it was so unfortunate that he had a manic episode the time he was at the airport. That’s why he had been acting so strange. He felt anxious the moment the security held him up. He was thinking about his grandfather and he panicked, thinking that he might never see him again. And in all of these, Kyler lost himself.

It’s painful to see these videos of Kyler now in this context, his final moment, and it reminds us that mental health issues can have devastating consequences. It’s just so difficult to believe that Kyler was there for 4 hours with over a 100,000 other passengers and airport staff, yet no one noticed there was something going on with him. No one noticed something serious was happening. All people saw was a man acting weirdly and going out of control. No one bothered to check on him, even just for a few seconds. And we’re talking about an airport here where anything out of the ordinary should be instantly spotted and addressed. If someone had just put his arm around him and said, “Hey buddy, you look like you’re having a bad day. Can we help?” I think it could have saved his life.

And so, all I can say with all of this in mind is, Kyler, rest in peace.