Woman killed by poisonous mushroom drink at retreat

AN AUSTRALIAN woman has died after drinking an infusion containing toxic mushrooms at an alternative healing centre.

Rachael Dixon, 53, went into cardiac arrest after drinking an unknown substance at the Soul Barn Creative Wellbeing Centre in Clunes, north-west of Melbourne, authorities said. Two other people required hospital treatment but have since been discharged.

“It’s believed a woman was at a retreat when she became ill after ingesting a drink,” a Victoria Police spokesman said. Investigations are ongoing.

It is unclear what type of mushroom was ingested and police are looking into whether the group planned to take magic mushrooms.

Soul Barn’s Facebook page describes the centre as an “alternative and holistic health service”.

At the weekend it hosted an event about ancient skincare rituals led by a visiting beautician who used infused herbal oils “sourced from local farms and wild-foraged plants”.

A promotional post on social media said: “[The specialist] weaves ancient skincare rituals and combines them with modern techniques to create nurturing yet active facials.”

It added: “Using infused herbal oils sourced from local farms and wild for- aged plants, plus hand-crafted skincare from around the world especially chosen for its potency and purity ... this is a facial like non [sic] other, one you will never forget!”

It was not clear if Ms Dixon and the other two people who required treatment were at that event but a social media message, posted on Sunday, said Soul Barn extended its “deepest condolences” to the family. A “sound healing” session planned for that day was cancelled and Soul Barn remained closed yesterday. The Telegraph had contacted Soul Barn for comment.

Ms Dixon’s son, Matthew, paid tribute to his mother, posting: “To the most loving, most caring person I’ve ever known can’t thank you enough for everything you ever did for me and all the support you gave me. Words can’t begin to describe how much I will miss you, wish I could give you one last hug.”

The ingestion of magic mushrooms in “guided trips” led by counsellors has become more popular in Australia amid growing research into the possible therapeutic benefits of the psychedelic substance psilocybin.

However, as the trend develops, some health experts have raised concern at a lack of regulation as well as the chance that people could unknowingly ingest poisonous varieties.