A self‑styled shaman told paramedics a 72‑year‑old had taken nothing while she lay in cardiac arrest, the coroner was told. "His response was obviously a lie," counsel assisting the coroner, Greg Dudzinski, said as the inquest opened on June 23, 2026. Ms Foord, who had motor neurone disease and a history of breast cancer, sought psilocybin as an unconventional treatment for anxiety and the emotional toll of her illnesses. The court heard the post‑mortem found psilocin and diazepam in her blood and recorded the cause of death as cardio respiratory failure on a background of motor neurone disease and substance use. The inquest will examine the actions and communications on the day she died.

"I want to die," Ms Foord told friends while describing a "bad trip" during a healing session, the inquest heard.

The session and the collapse

The court was told Ms Foord was connected through a friend to Noah McKenna, described in evidence as a "shaman" with no medical qualifications, who attended her home on June 15, 2024 for what was called a healing session. Mr McKenna repeatedly reassured Ms Foord and those around her that "everything was fine" even as her condition deteriorated, counsel assisting told the coroner.

Ms Foord's partner, Con Ninos, checked on her several times during the session. Just before 3pm he told the court he found Mr McKenna in what he described as "dire straits" and Ms Foord "lifeless, white and not responding." Paramedics were called and arrived about four minutes after the call. They found Ms Foord in cardiac arrest with no pulse and not breathing, revived her at the scene, and she was taken to hospital where she died a short time later.

Counsel told the court that Mr McKenna told a paramedic at the scene she had consumed nothing, a statement the coroner was told was untrue. The inquest opening will probe why that information was withheld from emergency services and other witnesses at the time, and whether delays or misstatements affected the response.

The post‑mortem record supplied to the family showed psilocin, the active hallucinogen in magic mushrooms, and diazepam were present in Ms Foord's blood. The post‑mortem recorded the cause of death as "cardio respiratory failure on a background of motor neurone disease and substance use (psilocin and diazepam)."

Mastheads

Police charged an alternative health practitioner last year over an allegation of supplying or administering a controlled drug, the court heard. That charge was dropped at a hearing in April 2025 after police concluded there was not enough evidence to proceed.

Ms Foord had sought psilocybin as a non‑conventional treatment for anxiety and the emotional impact of her motor neurone disease and past breast cancer, the inquest was told. Friends and family described a session that became distressing, with Ms Foord reporting a "bad trip" and saying she wanted to die during the experience.

Ms Foord's sister, Barbara Komazec, told the coroner's court she welcomed the inquest and wanted a fuller investigation into "so many abnormalities" around her sister's death. The family have previously gone public to warn others about risks of unregulated alternative treatments and have sought clearer answers about the events on June 15, 2024.

Counsel assisting told the court the inquest will examine why information about Ms Foord's drug use was not relayed promptly. At the opening hearings, evidence was heard that the delay "ultimately didn't have a causal impact" on her death, though the court will still examine the sequence of communications and witness statements to clarify whether any failures in care or communication contributed to the outcome.

The scope of the inquest includes the actions of those present during the session, the response by emergency services, and the medical findings recorded in the post‑mortem. Those are the threads the coroner indicated the court will pull together as it seeks to establish facts and identify any systemic failings.

The account before the coroner raises broader questions about people seeking unregulated treatments from practitioners without formal medical qualifications, and the risks when use of controlled substances isn't openly declared to emergency responders or recorded in contemporaneous statements. The family have framed their public comments as a warning to others about the potential dangers of alternative therapies administered outside regulated medical settings.

The inquest will call witnesses to give evidence about the timing and content of statements made on the day, and to set out a clear timeline of events from the session through to the paramedics' arrival and the hospital transfer.

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Hearings will continue with witnesses called to set out the timing and content of statements from June 15, 2024, as the coroner seeks to establish whether any failures in care or communication contributed to Ms Foord's death. Originally reported by ABC News.

This article was created with AI assistance.