Brothers speak out after sister died when refusing chemotherapy ‘due to mum’s conspiracy theories’
The brothers of a woman who died at the age of 23 after she refused chemotherapy have blamed their mother's conspiracy theories for the loss of their sister.
Paloma Shemirani was diagnosed with cancer in 2023 and doctors told her she had a high chance of survival if she underwent chemotherapy, but seven months later she was dead after refusing to receive the treatment.
An inquest into her death found that the woman, who died on 24 July 2024 from a heart attack caused by her cancer, had rejected her diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma as an 'absurd fantasy, with no proof'.
Statements she made were read out to the inquest as she declared she was 'far from being a vulnerable young adult' and 'practised the same principles that I grew up with'.
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Paloma said that in matters of health she 'always turned to my mum first for advice as she is a trained nurse and qualified nutritionist', though her mother Kate was struck off from being an NHS nurse in 2021 for spreading Covid misinformation online.
The 23-year-old ignored guidance from doctors who said she needed chemotherapy and instead followed Gerson therapy, which involves consuming an organic vegetarian diet and supplements along with having regular enemas.
Her attempts at finding an alternative treatment did not stop the cancerous mass that was first detected on her lung and she was dead within months.
Paloma's brothers Gabriel and Sebastian Shemirani told the BBC they blamed their mother for the loss of their sister, with her older brother Sebastian saying she had died 'as a direct consequence of my mum's actions and beliefs'.
"I wasn't able to stop my sister from dying. But it would mean the world to me if I could make it that she wasn't just another in a long line of people that die in this way," Paloma's twin brother Gabriel explained.
They said their father Faramarz first got into conspiracy theories and then their mother joined in, with them saying that their school runs were accompanied by the sounds of Alex Jones talking about the Sandy Hook school shooting or claims that 9/11 was an 'inside job', while they also heard the Royal Family were lizards.
In statements examined by the inquest Paloma described herself as 'anti-vax'.
She had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma on 22 December 2023 after suffering from chest pains and breathing difficulties, with her boyfriend Ander saying she nicknamed the tumour 'Maria the Lung Mass'.
Doctors said her chances of survival with chemotherapy were around 80 percent, but she didn't go in for the treatment and her mother also encouraged Paloma and those around her to say no.
Ander said he received a message from Kate saying: "TELL PALOMA NOT TO SIGN IR [sic] VERBALLY CONSENT TO CHEMO OR ANY TREATMENT."
Without the treatment Paloma's condition worsened, when she discovered a new lump in her armpit her mother told her that was a sign the cancer was moving out of her body.
Her brothers only learned she had died several days afterwards because their lawyer called them, with Gabriel having to pass the news along to his brother.
Topics: Cancer, Health, NHS, UK News, Conspiracy Theory
Joe Harker