A “shaman” healer repeatedly assured a woman “everything was fine” in the hours before her cardiac arrest — then lied to paramedics about her use of magic mushrooms, a court has heard.
A coronial inquest is investigating the death of Adelaide fashion icon Carol Foord, who was given magic mushrooms as an alternative treatment prior to her death, aged 72, in June 2024.
Opening the inquest on Tuesday, counsel assisting the coroner Greg Dudzinski told the court Ms Foord was hesitant to accept her motor neurone diagnosis and expressed a distrust of traditional medical treatments.
She began looking into mushrooms containing psilocybin, commonly known as magic mushrooms, as a form of “non-conventional treatment”.
Through a friend, Ms Foord was connected to Noah McKenna, who was referred to as a “shaman” but had no medical qualifications.
The court heard Mr McKenna told Ms Foord taking psilocybin would be “a beautiful experience” that would involve music and would help navigate her fears.
He attended her home for a “healing session” on June 15, 2024.
Counsel assisting the coroner Greg Dudzinski opens the inquest on Tuesday. (ABC News: Ethan Rix)
Mr Dudzinski told the court Ms Foord spoke with two friends by phone during the afternoon as her condition deteriorated.
She told them she was “having a bad trip” and at one point said “I want to die” — but Mr McKenna repeatedly interjected with assurances that she would be fine.
“This was a constant theme through Ms Foord’s decline that day,” Mr Dudzinski told the court.
“Mr McKenna, who was not a medical professional, reassuring Ms Foord and those around her that everything was fine, when he was not qualified to make any sort of medical assessment.”
The court heard Ms Foord’s partner, Con Ninos, checked on Ms Foord three times throughout the session.
Just before 3pm, he said he found Mr McKenna in “dire straits”, while Ms Foord was “lifeless, white and not responding”.
Mr Dudzinski told the court Mr McKenna asked Mr Ninos to call an ambulance and paramedics arrived four minutes later.
They found Ms Foord had suffered a cardiac arrest, was not breathing and had no pulse.
Mr Dudzinski said a paramedic at the scene asked Mr McKenna if Ms Foord had consumed anything, and he responded “no”.
“His response was obviously a lie,” Mr Dudzinski said.
“A lie at a time when an actual medical professional was seeking information for the purpose of providing life-saving treatment.“
Fashion entrepreneur Carol Foord (right) with her sister Barbara Komazec. (Supplied: Barbara Komazec)
Ms Foord was revived at the scene and taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital but was taken off life support that night “due to a very poor prognosis, as a consequence of the cardiac arrest”.
The court heard that while Ms Foord was at the hospital, Mr McKenna told Mr Ninos over the phone that he had given her magic mushrooms — information that was “eventually” provided to medical staff.
The inquest, before Deputy State Coroner Emma Roper, will examine the delay in relaying information, but Mr Dudzinski said evidence would show that it “ultimately did not have a causal impact on Ms Foord’s death”.
It will also examine Ms Foord’s use of MDA, which was found in her blood after her death.
“There’s currently no evidence on the brief that Ms Foord used MDMA or that there was any agreement that MDMA or MDA would be part of the healing session,” Mr Dudzinski said.
The court heard Mr McKenna was currently in Sweden and had declined to give evidence at the inquest.
It also heard that, following Ms Foord’s death, Mr McKenna was charged with supplying or administering a controlled drug to another person, but the charge was dropped in April 2025.
Barbara Komazec is warning others about the dangers of alternative treatments. (ABC News: Eva Blandis)
Outside court, Ms Foord’s sister Barbara Komazec remembered her as a pioneer of the fashion industry in Adelaide, having founded clothing stores Toffs and Wild Child Style Lab.
Ms Komazec said she hoped the inquest brought “truth and justice for Carol” and wanted to warn others about the dangers of alternative treatments.
“She really wanted to live,” she said.
