Natasha Lechner unaware of health risks associated with kambo ceremony, Lismore inquest hears
A North Coast woman who trained to become a kambo practitioner did not know about the risk of sudden death associated with the ritual using toxic secretions from a frog.
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A coronial inquest has heard a Mullumbimby woman who died after using an Amazonian frog toxin during a kambo purging ceremony was unaware of the associated health risks.
Counsel assisting the Coroner, Dr Peggy Dwyer, told the court at Lismore it was “unfortunate (Ms Lechner) was not advised of the risk of sudden death caused by kambo”.
“There is a risk certainly for persons in her situation and for anyone who is otherwise healthy,” Ms Dwyer said.
The International Association of Kambo Practitioners has since updated its warnings to recognise the risks associated with the use of the toxin.
It now advises the need for participants to have current first aid skills, to have a heart monitor handy and the ability to call emergency services, the court heard.
Ms Dwyer said had Ms Lechner known the risk of the alternate therapy she would have been “unlikely to engage in it”.
The International Association of Kambo Practitioners states kambo originated in Brazil from the indigenous tribes of the Amazon.
The toxin is a secretion from the Giant Green Monkey Tree Frog, Phyllomedusa Bicolor.
Ms Lechner passed out within minutes of applying the toxin from the Amazonian tree frog to small burns on her chest and arm.
Her last words were: “It’s not good.”
Her father, Frank Lechner, who was in the gallery with his two sons, told the court he couldn’t see his daughter taking unnecessary risks because that was “not in her character”.
Ms Lechner had earlier told her brother Christian how “proud” she was to complete the kambo training course because not all the participants “could handle the rigour of it”.
Mr Lechner told the court his daughter was interested in kambo because it would “enable her to help others”.
“Natasha had believed in it,” Mr Lechner told the inquest.
Despite medical testimony citing no evidence of heart disease, three independent experts agreed a causal link may exist between the absorption of the frog toxin and sudden cardiac arrhythmia.
Dr Lorraine Du Toit-Prinsloo, forensic pathologist and clinical director at NSW Health Pathology, told the inquest on Thursday a sudden cardiac death could be a mechanism of death for Ms Lechner.
“There’s many other case reports where somebody will have an adverse reaction to Kambo and present to hospital subsequently thereafter,” she said.
Ms Du Toit-Prinsloo agreed that on the balance of probabilities it was “most likely” a cardiovascular problem related to the kambo led to Ms Lechner’s death.
Ms Dwyer told the court: “Three experts agree the cause of death was sudden cardiac arrhythmia following the administration of kambo.”
“You have three extremely experienced, well-respected experts who agree that the most likely cause of Natasha’s death was a sudden cardiac arrhythmia, and that given the proximity in timing between the administration of kambo and Natasha’s sudden decline and given her own feeling that something ‘wasn’t right’ as soon as the kambo was administered – there is a causal link.”
Contradicting evidence
Mr Lechner pointed out some inconsistencies with the evidence presented to the court.
He said he was surprised by the “lack of information and knowledge” from the practitioner where she told the court Kambo would release from the body, when the toxicologist said the toxin had a cumulative effect on the body.
He drew attention to Ms Lechner’s housemate, Kelly-Anne Green, who stated she walked in and saw Ms Lechner “frothing at the mouth” when practitioner Victoria Sinclair made no mention of that in her statement.
“The organisation itself in its teachings, I found confounding,” she told the court.
“If there were reported deaths and it wasn’t made apparent to the participants that there’s a possibility that you could die from the use of kambo – that should have been, really in my view, expanded upon and emphasised.”
Mr Lechner described his daughter as an “old soul in a young body”.
He said she was healthy besides the pain she suffered.
Mr Lechner brushed tears from his face as he told the inquest he would never get over the death of his daughter.
“I’m supposed to be a tough prison officer, but as a father, you always want to be there,” he said.
“I was very disappointed in how first aid was not rendered.
“Not all of us are heroes.
“She’s never forgotten.”
Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan said it was lovely to hear more about Natasha and see her father and brothers in court.
“It comes across very strongly what a beautiful young woman she was,” Ms O’Sullivan said.
She is due to hand down her findings on Friday, May 12.
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