Son's overdose death inspires Schaumburg father to help educate others

Just one week after his 21-year-old son died of a heroin overdose, Tim Eilrich is already on a mission to educate people on how to save others who OD.

Eilrich said he believes if the people who were with his son that night knew they would not be liable if they called 911, Russell Eilrich would be alive.

Sitting at his son's wake Friday, wearing a pin on his lapel with a picture of Russell in a baseball uniform, Tim Eilrich said in the few days since his son's death, he's learned a lot.

“As a parent, when your son overdoses on heroin or any drug for that matter, you feel somewhat shameful,” he said. “But I can also tell you that you shouldn't be shameful, because it's only natural to think what could you have done differently or better. And now I'm on a little bit of a mission.”

Russell Eilrich left his Schaumburg home Jan. 9 to go clothes shopping, Tim Eilrich said. But when he didn't come home that night and couldn't be reached by phone, his parents got worried.

“The first person we heard from was a trooper that came to my door at eight in the morning Sunday and said my car is in Lake County,” Tim Eilrich said.

They didn't care about the car; they wanted to know where Russell was. But the officer couldn't say.

“About noon, we got the worst call you can get in your life,” said Tim Eilrich, pausing briefly as he choked up. “It was the Lake County coroner saying they had our son.”

According to authorities, Russell was in Beach Park with Mason Spencer, 22, thought by Tim Eilrich to be an acquaintance of someone Russell met when he was at a behavioral health unit, and his father, James Spencer, 47.

That night, when

Russell overdosed in their home, prosecutors say the Spencers put Russell into the back seat of his car and drove him to North Wilson Avenue and West Edgewood Road in Beach Park, where they left him. They are both charged with involuntary manslaughter, concealment of a death and obstructing justice.

“He was left in the back seat of our car on a cold January night to die,” Tim Eilrich said. “There's nothing worse than that in my mind. For any father to make that decision seems unbelievable to me.”

Had they called 911 Russell might still be alive,

Tim Eilrich says.

Now, Eilrich says he wants to educate “parents, kids, any junkie, anybody out there” that calling 911 when someone is overdosing comes with immunity from prosecution under the good Samaritan law, as long as the person doesn't have large quantities of drugs in their possession. It also saves lives, since many police officers now carry the drug naloxone, which can swiftly revive an overdose victim when injected.

Representatives from Live4Lali were invited to Russell's wake Friday to educate people on how to respond to someone overdosing on an opioid.

A gofundme page was set up on Jan. 13 by Russell's aunt, Bernadette Konopka. The page has so far raised more than $9,000 toward the $15,000 goal that will help the family pay for funeral and burial costs.

Russell Eilrich was a part of a rare set, triplets. He had a brother, Scott, and a sister, Cassidy. He and Scott would take hiking trips to Starved Rock. He loved the outdoors and fishing and was excellent at baseball.

“He wasn't the kind of kid to go wandering for hours and whatnot,” Tim said. “He was your standard kid. Very mild-mannered, soft-spoken.”

When Russell was 19, he was diagnosed with celiac disease. He lost about 40 pounds, and “both his body and his brain were not getting the nutrients and vitamins needed,” Tim Eilrich said.

After he turned 20, Russell's parents noticed their son also becoming depressed. Then, about a month ago, there was an incident that led Tim and his wife to admit Russell to a behavioral health unit where he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder triggered by alcohol. He didn't drink a lot, Tim Eilrich says, but after a few cocktails, he was a whole different person.

“Whether or not that led to Russell's decision (to use heroin), we'll never know,” he said, adding that he doesn't believe Russell had used the drug before and that it seemed Russell had “really turned around” after he began taking medication.

Now, the Eilrich family is burying a son. And Tim Eilrich has a double mission - to make sure people understand his son was just a regular kid, and to save more kids from Russell's fate.

“No parent ever thinks their kid is going to do heroin or be with someone that does heroin, but it's obviously happening,” Eilrich said. “It's an epidemic. This stuff is strong. One try, and you could be gone.”