'My advice is to just love these guys': Heath Ledger's father Kim offers support to families of the Rabbitohs players Dylan Walker and Aaron Gray who overdosed on the same drug that killed his son 

• Kim Ledger has spoken out about Australia's prescription drug epidemic
• Heath Ledger died in 2008 from a cocktail of drugs including oxycodone
• Aaron Gray and Dylan Walker are said to have taken an oxycodone-based drug
• 'My only advice to the family is just to love these individuals, just love these guys,' Mr Ledger said 

By Daniel Piotrowski for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 23:35 EST, 22 September 2015 | Updated: 01:42 EST, 23 September 2015

Heath Ledger's father has offered words of support to the families of the two South Sydney Rabbitohs players who overdosed on the same type of painkiller his actor son took before his death, oxycodone.

In an interview with Daily Mail Australia, Kim Ledger urged the families of Aaron Gray, 21, and Dylan Walker, 20, to rally around the young rugby league players and show how much they loved them.

'My only advice to the family is just to love these individuals, just love these guys,' said Mr Ledger, who recently described prescription drug abuse in Australia as a 'spiralling epidemic' needing urgent attention. 'They're humans like everybody else - people can get caught out.'

Mr Ledger's Academy Award winning son died in 2008 after consuming a deadly cocktail of medications including oxycodone and others - hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam and alprazolam. Gray and Walker reportedly took Targin, a form of oxycodone.

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Heath Ledger (left) died from a deadly drug cocktail in 2008 which included the substance oxycodone. Aaron Gray and Dylan Walker (right) are recovering in hospital after an unusual double overdose on Targin, which contains the substance

Aaron Gray has had multiple knee reconstructions over the years, while Walker (pictured centre) has suffered injuries to his hands 

Dylan Walker (left) and Aaron Gray (right) remain at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney after a concerned friend called an ambulance at 3.45am on Tuesday

Gray posted this selfie of himself four days ago on Instagram from his hospital bed following his post-season operation. He was prescribed painkillers - said to include oxycodone - by a specialist following surgery

'We just need to love those people and counsel them, and where we can, educate them,' Mr Ledger said. 

Kim Ledger says so many families are shocked that the simple use of drugs can kill

Since his son's tragic death, Mr Ledger has worked as an ambassador for the public health group Scriptwise, which works to fight Australia's prescription drug crisis. 

He was moved to fight the crisis by his own personal experience and a wrenching letter he received from a Victorian family about the death of their son.

Mr Ledger has met countless families who have suffered from scourge of prescription medications in recent years. 

And one thing doesn't change - the shock of the families that their loved ones can die from medicine prescribed by a doctor. 

'I think most people believe if the drugs are issued up by a doctor they're safe,' Mr Ledger told Daily Mail Australia.

'We are now starting to learn in a public way misuse of those or mixing can cause severe harm and in some cases death.' 

'We had no idea something like this could happen (to our family.

'The thing we learned personally is someone who should have been here one day was gone the next by the simple use of drugs. 

'That really shocked us. It still has shocked us. It shocks all families involved in it.' 

It's a problem that's worsening. He cited disturbing figures released by the Victorian state coroner this year which found prescription drugs had contributed to the deaths of more than 82 per cent of cases seen in 2014.

Meanwhile, illicit drugs were involved in just 42 per cent, according to the statistics.

But in happier news, both Gray and Walker were in a stable condition on Wednesday morning, something Mr Ledger said was 'absolutely' pleasing.   

This photo of Gray and Walker was taken just hours before they ended up in hospital in a serious condition

Rabbitohs CEO John Lee said the players had not taken illicit drugs or alcohol and had not mixed the prescribed pills with energy drinks, despite empty cans being found by police 

A friend called an ambulance for the pair at 3.45am on Tuesday after they started reacting to the painkillers they were prescribed following surgeries last week.  

Empty energy drink cans were reportedly found at Gray's family home, where the pair were watching movies on Sunday evening - although Souths CEO John Lee said yesterday they had not mixed the painkillers with energy drinks. 

'Their condition has improved markedly - they're alert, they're communicating, I understand they'll even be eating this morning,' Mr Lee told Triple M. 

'One of the boys has an infection on their lung and they're dealing with that, but apartment from that their improvement's real.'

The Nine Network's Danny Weidler claimed the Gray family were told their son's life was in the balance, with his chances of survival put at '50-50'. 

'I think the families, at least Aaron Gray's family, were told "it's 50 - 50"', he said. 

Paramedics treated the young men in the backyard of Gray's family home at Rosebery before being taken to hospital where the pair were placed in induced comas on Tuesday night. 

The pair watching movies with two other friends when the incident unfolded.

Walker and Gray had both been prescribed the painkillers Targin, a morphine-based oxycodone, and Tramadol by specialists following post-season surgeries last week.

It has been reported that the duo took each other's painkillers, as well as their own, given the adverse reactions.  

Gray's Rugby Sevens star girlfriend Tiana Penitani was 'distraught' when she heard the news and flew from a training camp on the Gold Coast to be by his side

The players had to be heavily sedated at St Vincent's Hospital and remained in the intensive care unit on Wednesday morning

Walker's partner Penitani (left), 19, is part of the Australian Women's Sevens National Team

Dr Stephen Jung, from Royal North Shore Hospital, said an overdose of this drug could prove fatal or result in brain damage if the body is starved of oxygen - especially when mixed with alcohol. 

'The painkiller basically slows the body down, it slows down your breathing and your heart,' he said.

'This can make you feel as though you are stoned or intoxicated with alcohol. But if you take too much, or mix it with alcohol or other drugs you can fall unconscious.

'If the brain doesn't get enough oxygen it can prove fatal, or result in brain damage or a serious chest infection. It is difficult to say how long they will take to recover.' 

Mr Ledger's comments come as NRL star Benji Marshall said he has seen abuse of prescription drugs on every level in his 10 years playing. 

'It's a wakeup call,' Marshal told Fox Sport's NRL 360.

'Throughout my years playing I've seen it in club teams and I've seen it in rep teams, people taking prescription drugs recreationally. 

'It's fine to take them to ease pain or after an operation but actually recreationally sometimes instead of drinking.

'We had that crack down a couple of years ago and from that point I saw a massive improvement from where we were as a game. 

'What this does is it highlights that thing again that tars everyone with the same brush, but I can assure you, from what it used to be to what it is now, it's nowhere near.' 

The South Sydney Rabbitohs players were rushed to hospital at 2.30am today after consuming an unhealthy amount of opiate drug Targin during a 'movie night' at Gray's flat (shown) in Sydney's south-east

Rabbitohs CEO John Lee said Gray and Walker had not taken illicit drugs or alcohol and had not mixed the prescribed pills with energy drinks, despite empty cans being found by police 

Neighbours told Daily Mail Australia they did not hear anything coming from the property at Rosebery where Gray lived with his girlfriend and family before the incident happened 

The young league stars, pictured here with NRL legend Brad Fittler, have been best friends since they were six years old

Walker and Gray made their NRL debuts with the Rabbitohs within a year of each other

Aaron Gray's father, Brian, is a junior development coach with the Sydney Roosters 

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