TALENTED and ambitious, Henry Kwan was dux of his class and determined to become a doctor.
But a foolish experiment with a lethal synthetic drug cost the 17-year-old his life.
In a drug-induced psychosis on Wednesday night, Henry stripped naked then plunged from the top-floor balcony of his family's north shore home in Sydney - because he "believed he could fly".
A tragic story emerged of the final moments before the Year 12 Killara High student died just hours after ingesting a tab of what he thought was LSD - but was in fact a synthetic drug - which he bought from another teen, police said.
Last night, his devastated father Stephen Kwan said Henry had "confessed" to his mother that he had taken the drugs.
"He thought he could fly," Mr Kwan said. "Whatever it did to him, he just kept saying he could fly. He was behaving very irrationally and strangely and my wife tried to stop him ... she grabbed hold of him on the balcony but he was too strong."
Just after 8pm, Henry fell from the third floor of the Killara Ave apartment block, in front of his helpless mother and younger sister. He died from massive head injuries.
Mr Kwan said it was the first time he had known Henry to touch drugs, with his son ordinarily very focused on school and study.
"I just don't understand why he would take drugs, Henry would never do something like that, he wasn't like that," Mr Kwan said.
"He was such a smart boy, very good at school. He wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer, but mostly a doctor."
NSW Police drug squad head Detective Superintendent Nick Bingham said the use of synthetic LSD was an emerging problem, and in many cases being taken by teenagers not prone to drug use, such as Henry.
"A lot of the cases we are seeing involved young people who have never been in trouble with the law before," Supt Bingham said. "They are not your stereotype drug users. "
He said the drugs are often bought over the internet cheaply and sent through the mail, mostly from China.
"It gives the drug an air of legality or they think it is safe because it is on the internet. But there is absolutely nothing safe about it," he said.
A 17-year-old man has been charged with supply of a prohibited drug, and will face court on July 3.
Henry Kwan, 17, fell off a balcony and died after taking what he thought was LSD.
http://www.news.com.au/national-news...-1226658982611