Topic: Alternative Medicine

Friday, 19 June 2026, at 6:29 am

Carol Foord founded Adelaide boutiques Toffs and Wild Child Style Lab.

In short:

The family of Adelaide fashion icon Carol Foord welcomes a decision to hold an inquest into her death.

A hallucinogen found in magic mushrooms was in her blood after she had a heart attack in 2024.

What's next?

The inquest will start next week.

An inquest will look into the death of an Adelaide fashion icon who had a heart attack after taking magic mushrooms as an alternative treatment.

Carol Foord, who founded Toffs and Wild Child Style Lab, fought breast cancer and motor neurone disease before her death in June 2024.

She took magic mushrooms as an alternative treatment for anxiety and had a heart attack a few hours later.

She was taken to the hospital, where she died soon after.

Last year, her family shared her story to warn others about the dangers of alternative treatments.

Carol Foord's siblings are Jenny Howland, Barbara Komazec, and Michael Foord.

The family also questioned the events leading up to her death, with a post-mortem report unable to find the cause of her heart failure.

Ms Foord's sister, Barbara Komazec, welcomes the coroner's decision to hold an inquest, which starts next Tuesday.

Barbara Komazec says her sister's case highlights the dangers of alternative treatments.

It's important for Carol's sake because she didn't want to die that day.

Psilocin was found in her blood after she died.

The post-mortem report said there were no acute findings to account for her sudden death.

The report recorded her cause of death as heart and lung failure due to motor neurone disease and substance use.

Barbara Komazec is seen with her sister, Carol Foord.

Diazepam is used to treat anxiety, while psilocin is a hallucinogen found in magic mushrooms.

Both substances were in Ms Foord's blood when she died.

An alternative health practitioner was with her when she got worse.

The practitioner was charged with supplying a controlled drug but the charge was dropped in April 2025.

A family photo shows Carol Foord as a young child.

A detective told Ms Komazec there was not enough evidence to charge anyone.

Something needs to happen

According to a 2024 study, deaths from magic mushrooms are rare and usually happen due to accidents or self-injury while under the influence.

Ms Komazec says psilocin use is still risky and her sister's case shows the dangers of alternative treatments.

She hopes the inquest will focus on preventing similar cases and suggests stricter rules and more public awareness.

A memorial plaque for Carol Foord is on a bench at Heywood Park in Unley.

Ms Komazec wants the coroner to look at what information was given to medical professionals before her death.

They are concerned that medics did not know she had taken magic mushrooms.

Two years after her sister's death, Ms Komazec says the family is still dealing with what happened.

It's been hard

You never stop thinking about it when something like this happens.

I know they say time heals, but I think you never forget, it's always there.

Friday, 19 June 2026, at 6:29 am

Practice Listening