2023-05-11 16:00:33
Over the past two weeks, a small courthouse tucked away in eastern Australia has heard conflicting and unusual testimony regarding the deaths of two residents, according to BBC News.
Natasha Lechner is believed to have died of cardiac arrest, while authorities believe Jarrad Antonovich died from injuries caused by severe vomiting.
Both incidents occurred shortly following the two individuals used kambo, poisonous frog mucus.
The deaths of these individuals were recorded in the northern region of New South Wales, an area famous for its beautiful rainforests and stunning beaches, but also for its alternative therapy scene, reports BBC News. This poisonous frog mucus is incidentally used to perform an in an ancient Amazonian ritual.
A coroner is now investigating what led to their deaths and if anything might have been done to save them.
On March 8, 2019, Natasha Lechner held a kambo ceremony at her home in Mullumbimby 20 minutes from the coastal town of Byron Bay.
She was morbidly obese and had turned to alternative medicine to manage her chronic back pain.
However, seconds following applying kambo to five small burns on her chest and arm, she passed out. A few minutes later, she was dead.
- Listen to the explanations of journalist Alexandre Moranville in his news brief broadcast live every day at 12:55 p.m. via QUB radio :
The 39-year-old had been trained as a kambo practitioner just months before her death, but a court heard she was not warned of the risk of sudden death posed by using kambo.
Although she was with another kambo practitioner, who started CPR when she passed out, no ambulance was called for Ms Lechner until her housemate arrived home 10 minutes later . Her friend says in an interview with BBC News that she found her friend with white foam around her mouth.
Jarrad Antonovich’s death on October 16, 2021 lasted much longer than Ms. Lechner’s.
The man was on a six-day retreat in Kyogle, an hour from Byron Bay, when he took kambo. He too suffered from chronic illnesses, according to BBC News.
The 46-year-old looked ill early on the day he died, BBC News has learned. Nine or ten hours later, he was unable to walk without help, and his face and neck were swollen.
At some point during the evening, authorities believe he also consumed ayahuasca, another drug that, in addition to triggering hallucinations, often causes severe vomiting.
By 11.30pm he had passed out, eventually prompting someone to call an ambulance, according to the BBC.
However, no one told paramedics that Mr. Antonovich had consumed kambo and ayahuasca. Instead, it was suggested to them that he was suffering from an asthma attack. In fact, his esophagus had ruptured.
Kambo, also known as sapo, is a waxy substance harvested by scraping the skin from a living giant monkey frog (phyllomedusa sauvagii).
The frog, found throughout the Amazon, secretes the substance as a defense mechanism to kill or warn animals that try to eat it.
During a kambo ceremony, humans use it to trigger an intense process called detoxification.
Participants must first drink more than a liter of water, small burns are created on their skin, and the substance is applied to open wounds.
This causes an increase in blood pressure, a rapid heartbeat and the body purges itself through vomiting or defecation, often both. Symptoms vary in severity and usually last up to half an hour.
Indigenous peoples of South America have used kambo for centuries, believing it wards off bad luck and improves hunting skills.
Nowadays, it is a shamanic ritual which, according to its followers, rids the body of toxins, brings mental clarity and treats various illnesses.
However, no research supports these purported health benefits and it is banned by Australian health authorities.
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