Mum ‘kept interrupting paramedics saving daughter’, inquest told

The mother of a woman who died after refusing chemotherapy for cancer “presented a challenge” to paramedics trying to save her daughter’s life after she suffered a heart attack, an inquest has heard.

Paloma Shemirani, 23, from Uckfield, East Sussex, was diagnosed at Maidstone Hospital with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in December 2023.

She died seven months later after seeking only “alternative” treatment.

Her mother Kate Shemirani, a former nurse who rose to prominence on social media sharing Covid conspiracy theories, calls chemotherapy toxic and dangerous, the inquest was told.

When Paloma collapsed at her mother’s home in July 2024, paramedic Robin Bass said Kate “presented a challenge as she kept interrupting while the crews were carrying out care”.

He told the coroner that Kate mentioned a mass on her daughter’s chest.

When Mr Bass told colleagues it could be cancer, he said Kate denied it was.

Paloma’s mother, who was struck off as a nurse for promoting misinformation about the pandemic, instead said she was choking on food.

Paloma, a Cambridge graduate, died at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton after suffering a heart attack caused by her tumour.

Dr Peter Anderson, who saw her when paramedics brought her in, previously told the inquest a large mass in her chest and neck, which was compressing her airways and affecting major blood vessels, could have caused the cardiac arrest.

A safeguarding report was later requested over concerns about Paloma’s refusal of cancer treatment and the “possible influence” of her mother.

Paloma’s twin brother Gabriel, who blames her death on his mother’s conspiratorial beliefs, asked if she had made the paramedics’ job more difficult that night.

Mr Bass said: “I believe we had to be quite firm at some points… had to ask for quiet while administering care to your sister.”

The coroner previously heard that Ms Shemirani had called a friend when Paloma collapsed, only dialling 999 after her friend arrived at the house.

Paloma’s brother Gabriel asked another paramedic who treated Paloma at the inquest if his mum’s delay in calling an ambulance affected her chance of survival.

“It’s difficult to say,” said Karen Clarke, Secamb critical care paramedic.

“You always recommend someone calling 999 straight away.”

Gabriel asked Ms Clarke if she would have called a friend first, she replied she would have called an ambulance first.

Dr Arundoya Mohan, a consultant haematologist at Maidstone Hospital, told Paloma in December 2023 she had an 80% chance of recovery if she had chemotherapy.

Ms Shemirani blames doctors for her daughter’s death.