'HIS HEART JUST STOPPED:' GIRLFRIEND OF SUSPECTED SAIT DRUG OVERDOSE VICTIM

Cody Gorlick spent the hours before his death cuddled up with his
girlfriend of two years watching movies in his dorm room.

His death is under investigation by police as a possible drug
overdose, but Monday at a small memorial on the SAIT campus where he
studied welding, his girlfriend, Amanda Roger, said she still doesn't
understand what happened.

"We were just laying in bed watching movies all night, it was nothing
out of the ordinary," recalls Roger.

But in the early morning hours Saturday, Roger realized something was wrong.

"His heart just stopped," she said.

EMS crews were called Saturday around 7 a.m. to Gorlick's Tower
Residence dorm room on the SAIT campus.

The call was for an unconscious 23-year-old man, Calgary EMS
confirmed, but by the time they arrived the man was dead.

Investigators involved in the SAIT case say an unknown powder and
capsules were seized at the scene and samples have been sent to the
crime lab and to the office of the chief medical examiner for testing.

The death is one of two weekend fatalities being investigated as
possibly related to ecstasy consumption.

The RCMP is investigating the Sunday death of a man in Nanton.

An autopsy will be completed this week and authorities are awaiting
the results from toxicology tests before they can confirm whether
Gorlick's death is related to toxic ecstasy that has claimed five
lives in Calgary and at least five others in B.C. in the past few months.

The second case happened Sunday afternoon, when authorities responded
to a 911 call from a home in Nanton.

An ambulance took the man to hospital in High River, where he died.

A Facebook memorial group identified the man as Brandon Bodkin, 23, of
Nanton. Multiple sources confirmed the information.

At Gorlick's memorial Monday, Roger said the 23-year-old, originally
from Strathmore, will leave a huge hole in her family's life.

Gorlick had grown close to Roger's two children in recent years.

"My son is upset and my daughter thinks that we can bring him to
different doctors (to) get him fixed so that he can come home to us,"
Roger said.

The incident has prompted campus officials to make counsellors
available for any students or residence staffers who needs assistance.

"We are very saddened by this young man's death," said Michael Dyer,
SAIT's vice-president of employee and student services. "We recognize
that events like this can be troubling, so I encourage both students
and staff to reach out for help if needed."

A tainted batch of ecstasy that has led to 10 recent deaths in Calgary
and B.C. is believed to have been laced with
paramethoxymethamphetamine (PMMA), a substance five times more toxic
than ordinary ecstasy.

And in a bid to head off similar deaths and hospitalizations in
Saskatchewan, RCMP in that province have issued a warning about the
dangers of the street drug ecstasy.

No PMMA-related deaths have been reported in Saskatchewan, but RCMP on
Monday cautioned the public that drugs don't stop at the border.

"Just like people, drugs can be pretty transient - so best to err on
the side of caution," said RCMP spokesman Sgt. Paul Dawson.