Coroner: Mom dies after cleaning up son’s drug paraphernalia
PORTAGE, Pa. (WFLA) – A Pennsylvania mother is dead after cleaning up drug paraphernalia left behind from her son’s suspected overdose, a coroner said.
Theresa Plummer, 69, found her son Ronald, 45, unresponsive in the bathroom of his home on Nov. 5. WJAC reports he was hospitalized for a suspected overdose.
Cambria County Coroner Jeff Lees said Plummer likely absorbed a substance through her skin while cleaning the bathroom where the overdose occurred.
Plummer started experiencing shortness of breath and was rushed to the hospital where she died on Nov. 6. Her son died the following day.
“This is a caution for safety for anyone coming into contact with any type of powder substance,” Lees told WJAC. “You should use extreme caution and notify the proper authorities.”
“My strong advice to any family that may have this happen to them is to call law enforcement to have them or EMS (emergency medical) services come back and remove the substance or material that may have been left behind,” Lees said.
An autopsy was conducted, but the coroner is still awaiting toxicology reports before the official cause of death is announced.