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'He still matters': Valley family hopes story of their son can help others struggling with addiction

Shane Duvall died in 2020 from an accidental overdose of a pill laced with fentanyl.

PHOENIX — Shane Duvall was a fun-loving kid, social, full of energy. He enjoyed baseball and hanging out with his friends.

He cared for others. He was a good teammate and an even better friend.

"He was a great baseball player," his mother Rachel Duvall told 12News. "He was one of those kids, he pulled a lot of different groups together."

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Shane's caring nature was seen especially in one particular story his father and coach, John Duvall shares. It takes place at a baseball tournament in Las Vegas when Shane was just 12 years old.

"There's a hard-hit ball, it took a bad hop and hit Nick in the head. He goes down.  The ball bounces to the shortstop -  Flint makes a great play. Shane's at first,  does a stretch bang, bang play, Shane just dropped the glove and ran straight to Nick - just you know, that was his priority," John Duvall said. 

But Shane had his challenges. In high school, his life changed as his battle with drugs changed him.

"It just took him down a horrible path," his father, John Duvall, said. "He gets clean. You know, we went through rehabs and different things, and we get clean, be great. And just go back down again. It was just, it's a roller coaster. It's a horrible disease."

His parents say when Shane was battling the addiction, he was different. Not the social young man they knew, but withdrawn with different friends. 

But rehab helped, Shane, would get clean and become himself again. 

"We definitely would see the light," Rachel Duvall said. 

In 2020 when the pandemic hit, Shane wasn't working, and the changes he went through with past drug addictions weren't noticeable anymore to his parents.

"We just didn't know, we didn't know what he was going through," Rachel Duvall said. 

On June 15, 2020, at 23 years old, Shane died from an accidental overdose of a pill laced with fentanyl.

"John calls me and tells me that something's happened to Shane and I need to come home," Rachel Duvall said.

"It was a third of the pill. It didn't take much," John Duvall said. 

Space is still being held for Shane in the Duvalls home, and in their lives. Through family, Shane's friends. 

"I can't imagine going through this by ourselves," Rachell Duvall said. 

They continue to share and talk about him and his life hoping to help others. 

"He mattered. He still matters," Rachel Duvall said.

The Duvalls are hosting The Shane Duvall Memorial Golf Tournament at Stonecreek Golf Club in Phoenix on Saturday. All proceeds will benefit the Arizona Women's Recovery Center.

"I can't imagine wishing this on anybody. It's been a, it's been a tough journey," John Duvall said. "If through the tournament, Holly’s program, that can alleviate one family from going through this, it's been a success.

There is a GoFundMe set up where you can go and donate to the AWRC as the company helps many families that are struggling with addiction.

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