Kate Shemirani’s Sons Say She’s to Blame for Daughter Paloma’s Death

The answer to what happened to Paloma Shemirani depends entirely on who you ask. If you ask her mother, Kate Shemirani, a well-known anti-vax conspiracy theorist and online influencer, she’ll likely tell you her daughter was “murdered by medical staff and that was then followed by a cover-up,” according to the BBC, which is now sharing Paloma’s story.

But if you ask Paloma's twin brother Gabriel, he’s pointing the finger directly at their mom.

There are always two sides to every story, and in Paloma’s case, the accounts of what led up to her tragic death in 2024 couldn’t be more different. Here’s what we know about Paloma’s death and why her brothers are blaming their mother.

Kate Shemirani’s daughter, Paloma, died in 2024 at the age of 23 from a heart attack caused by a tumor linked to non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It started with chest pain and breathing difficulties, the BBC notes, which led her to get checked out with her then-boyfriend, Ander Harris. Doctors had determined Paloma had cancer, with a high probability of being fatal if left untreated.

Fortunately, doctors were optimistic. They gave Paloma an 80 percent chance of recovery if she began chemotherapy. But she didn’t, and by the following year, she was gone.

Her brothers, Gabriel and Sebastian, are blaming their mom’s influence for her death. It’s a bold stance, after all. She’s their mother, but knowing more about who Kate is makes their point of view easier to understand.

Kate, a former nurse who was "struck off" for spreading COVID-19 misinformation, claims that coffee enemas and juicing helped her become cancer-free after her 2012 breast cancer diagnosis, despite undergoing surgery to remove the tumor.

Gabriel told the BBC that growing up, their rides to school didn’t involve morning music but instead conspiracy-centered broadcasts from Alex Jones, the same man later found liable for defamation after claiming the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax. Kate and her then-husband also backed other wild theories, including the belief that “the Royal Family were shape-shifting lizards.”

When Kate and her husband split, her sons became estranged from her, though Gabriel shared that Paloma remained close to their mom. And apparently, Kate was adamant that Paloma not sign any paperwork that would allow doctors to move forward with chemotherapy.

While Paloma took her mother’s opinion seriously, she also reached out to one of Kate’s former partners, Patrick Vickers, who advised her to try Gerson therapy first and only consider chemo if she didn’t improve “after six weeks,” according to the BBC.

After seeking out advice and doing her own research, Paloma ultimately decided not to pursue chemotherapy, a treatment that could have potentially saved her life, and instead tried Gerson therapy. Her close friend from school, Chantelle, later shared that while she wasn't on board with the therapy, she wanted to be there for her friend.

But it didn’t work. Those close to her noticed her health was deteriorating fast. Another lump appeared in her armpit, which Kate allegedly dismissed as “the cancer going out of her body.” Eventually, Paloma suffered a heart attack caused by the tumor and died.

While Kate continues to hold tight to the belief that Paloma was murdered by medical staff, her sons see it very differently. They believe their mother’s strong opposition to chemotherapy and mainstream medicine played a major role in Paloma’s decision, a choice they feel she may not have made if Kate hadn’t been so involved.

Gabriel and Sebastian are now blaming their mother for influencing Paloma to reject chemotherapy, a treatment that could have potentially saved her life.