Family issues urgent warning as man collapses and dies minutes after texting girlfriend ‘it’s my lucky day’

A young father believed it was his 'lucky day' when he spotted an unexpected object on the ground at work, but just minutes later he was dead.

Michael Lordson, 25, was sweeping the floors at his workplace, a Nevada casino, when he collapsed and died, leaving behind two daughters, aged two and three.

He had texted his girlfriend moments before to say that he had discovered a pre-rolled joint while sweeping, accompanied with a picture and said it must be his 'lucky day'.

However, he was found dead on the floor of Riverside Casino in Laughlin a short while later on May 5.

When officials arrived at the scene, no drugs were found on Michael, but a coroner later determined that he had died from a fentanyl overdose, despite the dad not being a heroin user.

Michael Lordson died, May 5, with a coroner ruling he had experienced a fentanyl overdose [SWNS]

His sudden death has shocked his family, who are struggling to understand how he died. Tamula Mercer, Michael's 65-year-old grandmother who works as a caretaker in Bullhead City, said: "Michael didn't do drugs.

"He would smoke pot – we smoked pot together because it's legal – but he hated alcohol and didn't like the way it made him feel. That's why all this just blows my mind that he would die this way.

"He showed a picture of a joint in his hand," she said. "He found a pre-roll." Tamula said Michael had told his coworkers about his find.

"I guess he told two of his other coworkers to come meet him and they'd smoke it together," she said, adding, "They didn't come and we don't know if he smoked it."

When emergency workers arrived, neither the pre-rolled joint or any other drugs were found on his person.

Tamula, who adopted Michael when he was just two years old, is now on a crusade to prevent other families from experiencing a similarly random, fatal, overdose.

Ahead of speaking at the 5th annual Lost Voices of Fentanyl Rally on October 18 at the Washington Monument, the grandmother wants to make people more aware of the potential dangers of the drug.

Michael Lordson was adopted by his grandmother Tamula at the age of 2 [SWNS]

More than 16,000 Americans lost their lives to drug overdoses in the last year alone, according to CDC data, down from a peak of 31,000 in 2021.

Fentanyl is an extremely powerful synthetic opioid, often used in medical scenarios due to it being a painkiller that is 50 times stronger than normal morphine. Illegally-manufactured fentanyl is increasingly available on the street and can be smoked, snorted, or injected by users, many of whom could be unaware that they are consuming 'fent'.

Amid the shocking rise in deaths from opioids over the past decade, some experts have claimed that the extremely strong opioid can kill just from individuals simply coming into contact with it.

"It's not like in the old days where you can go to a party and somebody's passing around a joint and everybody's cool," Tamula said. "It can be on anything.

"All you got to do is touch something, and if it's got fentanyl on it and you touch your mouth, eyes, or nose, it'll kill you."

Michael's death inspired his grandmother to raise awareness of the scourge of fentanyl deaths [SWNS]

The grieving grandma had been told this information by officials, with Tamula adding: "I talked to the mayor here in our town, and he said that all you have to do is be around it, and if it's in the air and you smell it, it can kill you," she said.

"He was telling me about a drug bust where the house was full of fentanyl, and all the detectives had to go 200 feet away while HAZMAT went in to clean it out."

She added: "All you have to do is smell it and it goes up in your lungs and you're gone."

While fentanyl can be extremely dangerous, the idea that merely being near the drug or accidentally exposed to it can kill is not correct. Washington State's Department of Health has pushed back on this misconception, saying in guidance: "It is unlikely you will overdose just from being around or helping someone who has smoked or used fentanyl. There is no evidence of first responders experiencing an overdose from secondhand fentanyl exposure."

Tamula has been concerned by reports that fentanyl, an opioid stronger than heroine, has contaminated Halloween candy (Getty stock)

Following reports that Halloween candy could become contaminated with fentanyl, a regular story at this time of year, Tamula went on to say: "Now I go to the stores and I'm scared to touch things.

"I'm seeing where babies are dying just from touching it, and there are drugs that are stronger than fentanyl killing people."

Tamula also revealed that the stress of learning about the potential dangers of fentanyl had caused her serious health problems. She explained that she had a heart attack 'due to the stress, the horrible grief that this has caused'.

Despite her personal tragedy and health difficulties, Tamula remains determined to raise awareness of the dangers and prevent other families from experiencing a similar tragedy. She said: "I just want, before other kids die, before other parents face what I'm facing, for people to know the dangers.

"If I could save one person, if we could save even one person."