‘Anti-vax' Cambridge graduate, 23, died after refusing chemotherapy for ‘treatable' cancer

The Sun

29-07-2025

PALOMA Shemirani, who died after refusing treatment for her "treatable" cancer, told a court she was "anti-vax", an inquest has heard.
The 23-year-old University of Cambridge graduate said she always turned to her mother, conspiracy theorist Kate Shemirani, first for health advice.
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The young woman was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2023 - a type of blood cancer which starts in the lymph nodes.
At the time, doctors told Paloma she had an 80 per cent chance of recovery with chemotherapy.
However, she declined the treatment and suffered a fatal heart attack just months later, caused by her tumour at the Royal Sussex County Hospital (RSCH) on 24 July last year.
Kate, or "Kay" Shemirani, rose to prominence on social media while sharing Covid-19 conspiracy theories, the inquest at Oakwood House in Maidstone, Kent, heard previously.
In written statements submitted to the family division of the High Court in Spring 2024, Paloma said she declined chemotherapy partly because of her "background in natural healing", the inquest heard on Monday.
The proceedings, which involved the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, were on the appropriateness of her care.
Paloma said she was "delighted" with her alternative treatment and "sure" she would "make a full recovery" if left to continue it, the inquest was told.
She also claimed her human rights had been violated by NHS practitioners in the statements, which were read by lawyer Alison Hewitt.
Kay, who attended the inquest via video link, weeped and held pictures of Paloma to the camera as they were read.
It said: "I am far from being a vulnerable young adult.
Son of anti-vax nurse being probed by cops for comparing NHS medics to Nazis slams 'arrogant' mum
"Apart from becoming independent after I moved to Cambridge for university, I have practised the same principles that I grew up with.
"I have always been extremely health conscious: sticking to all-organic produce, I prepare all my own meals and I absolutely do not drink or cook with tap water.
"I have never taken drugs, despite pressure to, and I rarely drink alcohol.
"If I became ill, I've always turned to my mum first for advice as she is a trained nurse and qualified nutritionist.
"Practically fanatical about my health, my close friends know me as a staunch advocate for all proven natural healing".
She also described her mother as "an extremely forceful advocate for natural health" who is "misquoted" by people claiming "those natural solutions are conspiratorial".
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Kay was struck off as a nurse in 2021, with a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) committee finding that she had spread Covid-19 misinformation that "put the public at a significant risk of harm", the inquest heard previously.
Paloma's brothers, Gabriel and Sebastian, claim she was influenced by the beliefs of their mother. Kay blames doctors for her daughter's death.
Another statement in Paloma's name added "my friends know me as a staunch advocate of the Gerson therapy" and that she is "anti-vax".
She said she had been using Gerson therapy as one mode of treatment on the advice of her mother's ex-fiance, Doctor Patrick Villers, and that at 15 years old she spent three weeks in his camp in Mexico where it was practised.
Gerson therapy involves a strict organic vegetarian diet and enemas and has been used in cancer treatment.
Though Cancer Research UK says that there is no scientific evidence it can be used as a treatment for cancer.
Fears of infertility
Her GP was also monitoring her blood and progress, she said.
The former Cambridge student went on to deny having the disease and said "I was not diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma... I have never had a shadow on my lung, this is absurd fantasy, no proof".
She described the diagnosis as "suspected and unconfirmed", and said a "differential diagnosis" only meant cancer could not be ruled out.
Paloma understood that she had a one in five chance of surviving the commonplace R-CHOP treatment that was offered, and feared it would likely make her infertile, the inquest heard.
"I do not want to undergo such a harsh treatment that could even kill me when there is a possibility this is not cancer", she said.
The High Court statement alleged multiple violations of human rights in her care, the inquest heard, including Articles 3, 6 and 8 and possibly Articles 1, 5 and 12.
"I am so shocked, as are others assisting me, especially my mother, that this could take place today", the statement said.
"These were put in place forever to prevent what Dr Mengele did in the second world war. How could this happen today?", it continued.
Notorious Nazi doctor Josef Mengele performed experiments on his victims in Auschwitz.
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The patient said symptoms she presented in hospital with - including a swollen face, excruciating chest pain being unable to move her arm - had subsided.
Questions designed to waste time
Coroner Catherine Wood reprimanded Kay multiple times during proceedings.
Kay cross-examined Dr Amit Goel, a consultant histopathologist at Maidstone Hospital who carried out a biopsy.
She repeatedly put to him that insufficient tissue was taken to carry out a FISH test that could rule out other diseases and alter Paloma's treatment plan.
The doctor denied that this would have influenced Paloma's care multiple times.
The coroner told Kay the inquest is trying to look at "how Paloma came about her death" but "you are apparently trying to get information which is incorrect, factually incorrect, in the statements you are making".
"I think your questions are just designed to take up time and delay matters by the way you're asking them repeatedly," she added.
The mother accused participants of mis-pronouncing her name.
This eventually led Ms Wood to say: "I am going to rise, for Ms Shemirani to reflect on her behaviour in court, this is unacceptable.
"Let's have a pause for tempers to die down because you are clearly becoming over-fixated on a detail."
At the opening of the hearing Kay made an application for a lawyer to recuse herself.
To recuse means to step down or be removed from a case due to a possible conflict of interest, bias, or other valid reason.
The coroner rejected the application and said had seen the "hundreds of emails that have been sent in" and that "you have requested that everybody recuse themselves at various times", including the coroner herself.
The inquest continues.
What is Gerson therapy?
Gerson therapy is an alternative cancer treatment.
It involves a strict plant-based diet, daily coffee enemas, and high doses of supplements and juices.
It was developed in the 1920s by Dr Max Gerson, who claimed it could detoxify the body and boost the immune system to fight disease.
However, there is no scientific evidence that it can treat cancer or its symptoms, according to Cancer Research UK.
As well as this, the side effects can be extreme and harmful.
This is because coffee enemas remove a lot of potassium from your body which can cause infections, dehydration, fits, constipation, heart issues, lung problems and even death.
Other side effects include loss of appetite, diarrhoea and sickness, abdominal cramps, aching, fever and sweating, cold sores, dizziness and weakness.