Singer ‘tried psychedelic tea before fatal seizure’
A MUSICIAN thought to have drunk a hallucinogenic tea made popular by celebrities including Sting and Lindsay Lohan died from a seizure while performing in the Middle East.
Daniella Obeng, 32, had gone to a retreat in Wales in the hope that a course of holistic therapy, believed to include the South American herbal drink ayahuasca, would help control her epilepsy.
The mother-of-one had arranged a series of gigs in Qatar after struggling for money when her benefits were stopped because she was no longer considered disabled.
But less than a week after arriving in the city of Doha, the singer-songwriter – who used the stage name Devi Ka – was taken ill at the Intercontinental Hotel where she was due to perform. Tests showed she had had a fit and died as a result of bronchopneumonia.
Her family say they believe she took the ayahuasca, a banned class A drug, during her time at the retreat.
The drug was blamed for the death of British backpacker Henry Miller, 19, in Colombia in 2014, prompting warnings to tourists to be wary of taking part in tribal rituals involving psychedelic drugs.
An inquest heard Miss Obeng from Burnage, Manchester, had been living with a brain tumour and epilepsy since the birth of her son. She suffered absence seizures, characterised by a brief loss of consciousness.
She had been booked on a sixmonth contract as the resident singer for the Intercontinental after struggling to find work in the UK.
The Stockport hearing was told she was keen to try different therapies for her epilepsy because prescribed medication was not helping.
Just a few days before flying out to Qatar in September last year, Miss Obeng visited the holistic retreat in Snowdonia. Her mother Janette Obeng told the hearing: ‘ She had been to a retreat, there was some Brazilian medication taken and hallucination that puts people at another spiritual level, apparently.’
Mrs Obeng said her daughter was diagnosed with a benign tumour after the birth of her son in 2004 and began taking epilepsy medication. She added: ‘It was not very helpful.’
Miss Obeng’s boyfriend, Stefan Paunescu, told the hearing: ‘I spoke to her before she started her first day at work and she said she had a couple of absence seizures. One of the last messages that she sent to me was that she had a really bad migraine.’
Pathologist Dr Roger Hunt told the hearing no drugs were listed in toxicology reports from Qatar. Police officer Rita Wilkinson said inquiries had failed to establish details of the retreat Miss Obeng had attended.
Coroner Chris Morris recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.
After the hearing her parents said: ‘Daniella was beautiful, caring, kind, talented and funny. She will always be in our thoughts and in our hearts.’
‘Another spiritual level’