Grandmother dies after eating wild mushrooms from her front yard

An elderly grandmother died after picking wild mushrooms from her front yard and eating them in a dinner of rice and tuna.

Bayswater woman Loreta Maria Del Rossi, 98, passed away earlier this year at Eastern Health in Wantirna, seven days after consuming a meal made with death cap mushrooms.

Death cap mushrooms are believed to have been the cause of death of three people in Leongatha.Credit: iStock

State Coroner John Cain revealed Del Rossi’s death and called for improved public awareness about the dangers of wild fungi.

In findings released today, Cain found Del Rossi died from multi-organ failure due to poisoning from amatoxins — found in lethal death cap fungi.

Cain said Del Rossi, who lived with her adult son, grew her own vegetables and regularly collected wild edible grasses such as dandelion and milk thistle.

In April, Del Rossi located a patch of wild mushrooms growing in her front yard and advised her son she would collect, clean and test them. They then consumed the mushrooms and did not experience any negative effects.

On May 15, Del Rossi found more mushrooms growing in the same patch of yard and prepared them for dinner as she had done the month prior.

However, that night the pair fell ill and, following a call to paramedics, were transported to hospital for treatment.

While Del Rossi’s son survived, the 98-year-old’s condition deteriorated and she was placed into palliative care on May 20.

The case follows the high-profile deaths of at least four other Victorians from suspected mushroom poisoning.

In April, 53-year-old Ringwood North myotherapist Rachael Dixon died at the Soul Barn Creative Wellbeing Centre in Clunes, a small town about 30 kilometres north of Ballarat, with investigators probing if she was poisoned by a mushroom tea.

Cafe diners in front of Soul Barn in Clunes, where Rachael Dixon died.Credit: Justin McManus, Facebook

The cause of Dixon’s death remains unknown, with the coroner’s office also investigating her death.

In July 2023, three members of the same Leongatha church also died after consuming a fatal lunch believed to have contained death cap mushrooms.

Heather Wilkinson, 66, and Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, died following a lunch at a private house in Leongatha. Pastor Ian Wilkinson, 68, survived after a lengthy stint in hospital.

Erin Patterson, 49, has since been charged with three counts of murder and five of attempted murder and remains before the courts. She has denied the allegations against her.

Don Patterson (left), Gail Patterson, Heather Wilkinson and Ian Wilkinson were poisoned by a mushroom meal.

On Monday, the coroner said wild mushrooms typically grow in autumn in Victoria, as the weather becomes wetter and cooler.

Cain said yellow-staining mushrooms can often be confused for edible mushrooms available for purchase in supermarkets and are the most commonly eaten poisonous mushroom in the state.

The death cap mushroom is usually whitish, yellow, pale brown or green in colour and often grows under oak trees.

Having investigated Del Rossi’s death, Cain noted that the Department of Health offers resources about the dangers of foraging wild mushrooms, picking and consuming death cap and yellow-staining mushrooms, how to identify and remove the deadly fungi and instructions for suspected poisoning.

“I commend the Department of Health for publishing a health advisory regarding the consumption of wild mushrooms,” Cain said. “However, I believe that additional public awareness is merited.”

To improve public health and safety and reduce further similar deaths, Cain has called on the Department of Health, with the state’s Poisons Information Centre, to design and run a yearly advertising campaign to warn Victorians about the dangers of consuming wild mushrooms.

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