A voice-recording of the man who suffered a fatal reaction to poison and hallucinogenics has resonated with a coroner listening to it at an inquest surrounding his death.
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Jarrad Antonovich died of a perforated oesophagus after consuming the plant-based psychedelic ayahuasca and frog-based poison kambo at the Dreaming Arts Festival at Arcoora retreat in northern NSW on October 16, 2021.
In his recording played to the inquest on Thursday he spoke of a car crash he'd been in at the age of 21 altering his life completely.
Weeks later, he awoke from a coma that left him learning how to walk and talk again.
Mr Antonovich was promoting a memoir, detailing his battle with mental health and substance abuse.
"Healing myself from everything that happened before I was 21 is an ongoing process," he said in the recording.
"Now I have the desire to extend the inspiration to heal oneself to whoever needs it ... through writing my story."
State Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan said it was a rare privilege to hear his voice for the first time, and lovely to get to know him in that small way.
Mr Antonovich complained of back pain and had a swollen neck on the day he died, lying down near a tree after taking the substances, Ms O'Sullivan previously heard.
He drank a brew made with ayahuasca and had his skin burnt in several places before kambo was rubbed into the wounds.
Mr Antonovich was later taken into a temple on the grounds of the health retreat for an ayahuasca ceremony where he had his feet massaged while still complaining and moaning.
Rafael Camargo told the inquest Mr Antonovich mentioned stomach pain when he had checked in on him.
Discomfort in the stomach is not abnormal, Mr Camargo said, noting the man had described the intensity of his pain as a five or six, on a scale from one to 10.
A concerned Lee O'Dwyer had approached the ceremony "shaman" Cameron Kite in the afternoon, he told the inquest, and suggested that he take Mr Antonovich to the hospital.
Mr Kite told him he had discussed the subject of a hospital with others, he said, and that it was not the course of action they'd be taking.
"I trusted that (Mr Antonovich) would be fine," Mr O'Dwyer said.
Lurelle Alefounder said retreat leader Soulore Solaris later asked her to visit Mr Antonovich's flatmate and tell him not to reveal to police that an ayahuasca ceremony had taken place.
"I assumed that it was (to protect) the identity of the people at the ceremony," Ms Alefounder said.
"I told him, 'no, I'm not doing that'."
Mr Solaris apologised the next day, she added, and he said he had been trying to protect those involved.
Ms Alefounder, who participated in the ceremony, recalled hearing Mr Antonovich "groaning like he was in intense pain" before he went into cardiac arrest.
She apologised to Mr Antonovich's family, saying they likely wanted closure but there was "a lot of hindsight and grey matter" convoluting the inquest.
In a statement to police, Ms Alefounder said she thought an ambulance should have been called much earlier than it had been.
"Dreaming Arts have a responsibility to their guests to ensure the retreat is run safely," she said in the statement.
The use of ayahuasca and kambo is based on the traditional knowledge of indigenous South American communities, with adherents believing the substances can clean the body of impurities.
Medical experts, however, say there is no proof the substances do more than make people extremely ill.
The inquest continues on Friday.
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Australian Associated Press
