Drug treatment

September 23rd is the day my precious prodigal son Tyler was taken away from me. He died from an accidental opioid overdose. I received the call no parent ever wants to get on a sunny Sunday morning. Tyler would not wake up. We raced to his apartment and I witnessed the paramedics perform CPR for 45 minutes. I knew it was too late. He lay there lifeless covered in vomit, an image I will never forget. He was gone and I was in shock. It feels as if it was yesterday. Time does not heal like they say. You just have to try and figure out how to live with it. Tyler’s spiral into drugs started when a “friend” offered him pain pills at a concert. This was the beginning of the end. Tyler said the feeling took all of his anxiety and worries away. It was such a feeling of well being. After awhile he was hooked. Not because the pills made him high but because if he stopped he would become extremely ill with flu like symptoms on steroids he said and horrible body cramps. He was doing it to feel normal and not get sick. I have heard all of the negative comments and hate from people that say well it was his choice! Yes he did make the choice that night but for him it triggered those addiction receptors in his brain. Many people drink alcohol but why do some people become alcoholics? Many people gain weight and eat the wrong foods so why do some become diabetics? Tyler wanted so bad to stop and lead a normal life. He tried many times. Went through 5 treatment centers always started out well sometimes much longer than others. He got hurt severely years ago almost losing his foot. After trauma vascular and orthopedic surgery he was given pain meds again and again and the cycle kept repeating itself. After awhile the doctors cut him off and when he couldn’t afford pills on the street he turned to heroin because it was cheap and easy to get. 10 years his entire family went through hell with this horrible demon!! No one is immune from this horrible disease. Opioids do not care who you are! It can happen to any family. It just doesn’t affect poor broken families and neighborhoods. We never in a million years thought this would be something we would have to deal with. The stigma that came with it made it very hard to talk about. He was treated poorly when he would go to doctor or ER seeking help. I witnessed myself the rudeness and non caring cynical hospital staff. I always had to be there to stand up for him and be his advocate. There were times he was treated well. Tyler shed many tears wanting to figure a way out of this lifestyle. Tyler had so much potential and afun personality and craved to live a normal life again. He just started taking classes at community college and had a job he enjoyed. Tyler was a new dad to a one month old little boy.

my reason for raising money is to give someone the chance to receive inpatient treatment who otherwise would not be able to afford it. There are many kids out there who do not qualify for state insurance to pay for treatment. Many don’t have insurance at all and do not have the means to pay and their families are unable to afford the high price. Many do have private insurance and are unable to afford the out of pocket costs to a treatment center. This money is due before the person enters the facility and is often 1000’s of dollars. I want to help a man between the age of 18-26 years who is ready for treatment and ready to change their lives that do not have the financial means to get into a private long term facility. The program they enter must be a long term treatment center of at least 3 months. They must be dual diagnosis. That means they have medical staff and psych providers that diagnose and treat mental disorders such as depression and bipolar at the same time. The majority of these kids are self medicating an underlying untreated mental disorder. My reason for these requirements is because I have gone through this hell for 10 years and have way too much knowledge and understanding of the very broken system. I know what works. 30 days in a facility does not work for most people. It’s not near enough time to heal the brain. Please help me to help someone in need. This means so much to me if I could save just one family from having to bury their child. Thank you for reading my story and God bless❤️
Shawna Burnett and family