He just wanted to get back to work: a simple backache ended in tragedy
August 17, 2026
35-year-old Tyreek Lewis just wanted his back pain to stop, but pain relief would mean time off from work, hours of tests, and extra appointments. So he took what looked like a simple shortcut. It killed him, and altered his family’s life forever.
Tyreek behind the wheel. (Photo: Antoinette Hornsby)
Beloved father, son, fiancé, and brother Tyreek Lewis was a truck driver in Philadelphia, and that work took a big toll on his back. His pain was so severe that his fiancée made him a doctor’s appointment in May 2021. But it turned out that he would need an MRI and multiple appointments before he could be referred to a pain clinic, which was just too much time off work for a young father of four. Instead he purchased two prescription pills that would relieve the pain without having to miss days on the job.
He only took one, but it was laced with fentanyl, and he collapsed. Tyreek’s fiancée and his sister found him, and his sister performed CPR to keep his heart beating until paramedics arrived. Despite her heroic effort he was declared brain dead. In the days that followed, his organs went to three transplant patients, and his corneas restored sight to a fourth.
The far-reaching impact of grief profoundly and terribly affected the Hornsby family. Tyreek’s children are marking graduations and other milestones without him. His parents, Antoinette and Tyshon, live every day with the loss of their creative, joyful son, a man with many friends, who made music in his spare time, and who could always put a smile on their faces. Antoinette's other son, Eric, an EMT in Philadelphia, fell into a depression and died by suicide nine months after Tyreek’s death.
Antoinette is determined that her loss won’t be in vain. She tells her family’s story to every possible outlet in the hope of saving lives. Every police officer in their town in Georgia carries Narcan as a direct result of Antoinette's advocacy and other women have told her that hearing Tyreek’s story motivated their children to seek rehab.
Antoinette’s motto is, “I lost my child, but I'm out here fighting for yours.”
Photo: Antoinette Hornsby
This National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day, PSM honors victims of counterfeit pills made with fentanyl and family advocates who work to get the word out to all of us. Seek more information with the following organizations:
You can also:
- Share our handout about the fake pill crisis.
- Carry naloxone, which reverses opioid overdoses, and teach your family how to use it.
- Educate your family with another family's story about losing a loved one to fentanyl.