‘I saw her tumour growing in all directions’

A pathologist has said the “obvious cause of death” of a 23-year-old woman who refused chemotherapy was a mass in her chest and neck so large it was “visible externally”.

Paloma Shemirani, from Uckfield in East Sussex, died seven months after a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, having refused conventional medical treatment.

Her brothers have blamed the anti-medicine views of their mother Kate Shemirani, a high-profile conspiracy theorist with a large social media following.

Both Kate and Paloma’s father, Dr Faramarz Shemirani, who is “sympathetic” to his ex-wife’s views, blame medical staff for her death.

Paloma went to live with her mother just days after receiving her diagnosis in December 2023.

She had been told chemotherapy would treat the cancer but she later opted instead for juices and coffee enemas advocated by her mother.

Paloma was having five coffee enemas a day under her mother’s care, her brother previously said.

The Cambridge graduate collapsed at home in July 2024 and died five days later at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

At an inquest into her death at Kent and Medway Coroner’s Court in Maidstone on Wednesday, pathologist Dr David Wright said Paloma had a large mass, as big as 17cm (6.7 in), in her chest.

“I looked at the tumour and you could see the bulk of it – growing in all directions,” he said.

The tumour had “distorted and displaced” veins and arteries and it caused “major compromise of vessels and airways”, Dr Wright added.

It was growing into the ribs and “replaced most of the upper lobe of the right lung,” he continued.

The inquest heard earlier Paloma died after suffering a heart attack, which one doctor said could have been caused by the large mass compressing her airways and affecting major blood vessels.

Asked by Kate Shemirani whether he looked at alternative causes of death, including “latent TB”, Dr Wright said: “This is a nonsensical question.

“It doesn’t have any medical meaning, this is just word association.”

The untreated lymphoma was the “obvious cause of death”, he added.

Kate was formerly a nurse, but was struck off for promoting misinformation about the Covid pandemic. She once compared NHS medics to Nazis in a speech.

In a statement read to the court, Paloma’s father Dr Faramarz Shemirani – who is not a medical doctor – said his daughter looked “beautiful” in photos taken the day she collapsed.

He said his ex-wife had told him the “lump was caused by trauma during paramedic intervention”.

“It has been painful to witness what was done to Paloma, not only by the medical system but also by some members of her own family,” Dr Shemirani said.

He claimed that Paloma’s twin brother Gabriel, older brother Sebastian and ex-boyfriend Ander Harris being involved in High Court proceedings about Paloma prior to her death caused her significant stress.

It was suggested by Dr Shemirani that the High Court case was influenced by “external forces” as part of a medical cover-up, the court heard.

“My sister didn’t die from stress from the court case,” Paloma’s brother Gabriel said previously.

“My sister died from cancer and I think that’s clear.”

The inquest continues.