A Mother’s Goodnight Text Became the Last Words She Ever Sent Her Son — Now She’s Fighting to Save Lives

“Addiction can happen to anyone’s family,” says Los Angeles mom Juli Shamash, whose life was forever changed on October 21, 2018.

That morning, Juli was folding laundry when she received a devastating call about her 19-year-old son, Tyler. Their family had been battling his struggles with substance abuse for years — beginning at 14 when he experimented with marijuana, later moving to a drink called “lean,” a dangerous cocktail of cough syrup and soda.

Tyler’s parents, Juli and her husband Charles, tried everything to help him. He was sent to wilderness therapy in Idaho, followed by a therapeutic boarding school in Utah. After returning home, Tyler stayed sober for a while — until a workplace accident led a doctor to prescribe him opioid pain medication. That prescription, Juli believes, reignited his addiction.

Eventually, Tyler turned to heroin. He sought treatment, relapsed after eight months, and by October 2018 was bouncing between sober-living facilities.

The day before his death, Juli received a call from one of those programs. Staff believed he had overdosed and rushed him to the hospital. Tyler phoned his mother later, assuring her the toxicology results were negative and claiming he had only taken Imodium for an upset stomach. Skeptical, Juli pressed doctors directly, asking three separate times whether fentanyl was included in their testing. Each time, she was told yes.

Relieved but uncertain, she still texted her son that night: “Goodnight, I love you.” Hours later, Tyler was gone.

The next morning, her husband called to say Tyler had fallen and an ambulance was on its way. Juli raced to meet them, expecting a concussion or injury. Instead, she was met with the crushing words from a first responder: “He didn’t make it.”

Tyler had overdosed on fentanyl — a powerful synthetic opioid that was not detected in the hospital’s standard drug screen. Juli later learned that at the time, many emergency departments didn’t routinely test for fentanyl unless specifically ordered.

“We didn’t even know he had relapsed,” Juli says. “Had we known, we would have taken him to detox or residential care, not just sober living.”

Kaiser Permanente later confirmed that while fentanyl was not part of standard toxicology screens back then, testing protocols have since changed. Since 2023, fentanyl is now included in their standard screenings.

For Juli, the changes came too late. But she has channeled her grief into action.

She and her family launched the Drug Awareness Foundation, which provides education on overdose prevention and equips schools with naloxone, the life-saving medication that can reverse opioid overdoses. She has also championed Tyler’s Law, legislation that would require hospitals nationwide to test for fentanyl in emergency toxicology screens. The bill, introduced in 2023 and reintroduced in 2024 with bipartisan support, could prevent countless tragedies.

Tyler was much more than his addiction. He was a bright, curious young man who built computers for fun, loved animals, and had a close bond with his siblings, Alexandra and Griffin. He had Asperger’s syndrome, a sharp sense of humor, and a thrill for climbing rooftops and setting off fireworks. His family remembers him as kind, helpful, and endlessly inventive.

“In my mind growing up, drug addicts were just people on the street corner,” Juli says. “But the truth is, addiction can strike any family. We never imagined we’d face this. Now, I want Tyler’s legacy to be saving lives.”

Today, she holds onto the memory of her son’s gentle spirit — and the hope that no other parent will ever have to say their last goodnight in a text.