Pennsylvania mother dies cleaning up son’s drug overdose

A 69-year-old grandmother died last week after absorbing toxic drugs into her system while cleaning up paraphernalia left behind from her son’s fatal overdose.

Theresa Plummer found her son Ronald, 45, unresponsive in the bathroom of his Portage, Pennsylvania home on November 5. 

The next day, Theresa left her son’s bedside to go back to the home and clean up the mess. 

Shortly after, she started experiencing shortness of breath and was rushed to the same hospital herself where she died. 

Her son died the following day, November 7. 

Cambria County Coroner Jeff Lees believes that Mrs Plummer likely absorbed some of the drugs into her system while cleaning the bathroom where the overdose occurred. 

Theresa Plummer found her 45-year-old son passed out in the bathroom of his Portage, Pennsylvania home. She died after returning to the home to clean up the drug paraphernalia 

Autopsies have been conducted but the official cause of death won’t be released until toxicology tests come back, which could take six to eight weeks. 

‘This is a caution for safety for anyone coming into contact with any type of powder substance,’ Lees said. ‘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 services come back and remove the substance or material that may have been left behind.’

Mrs Plummer ‘enjoyed rescuing animals and spending time with her family and grandchildren,’ her obituary read. Her son ‘enjoyed the outdoors and sports’.  

The mother and son are survived by Theresa’s husband and three of her other children, along with their children.