You would think an “alternative healer” would have learned his lesson after the tragic loss of a six-year-old boy’s life during one of his previous workshops.
The “slap therapy” guru is now accused of manslaughter after a diabetic lady died after discontinuing insulin treatment at his retreat.
After participating in a session in Wiltshire that advocated Paida Lajin therapy—in which patients are either repeatedly slapped or slapped themselves—71-year-old Danielle Carr-Gomm passed away in October 2016.
The prosecutor described Mrs. Carr-Gomm, Duncan Atkinson, as weak and throwing up and “howling in pain.”
Cloudbreak, California resident and workshop organizer Hongchi Xiao, 61, rejects charges of manslaughter by gross negligence.
According to Mr. Atkinson, thirty people were “disciples” of the defendant, referred to as Master Xiao in the event’s program, during the session held at Cleeve House in Seend.
The woman from Lewes, East Sussex, named Ms. Carr-Gomm, was reportedly a “messenger sent by God” who helped her overcome her dread of needles and find an alternative to her insulin medicine.
In addition to signing a disclaimer stating that the practice was not meant for medical treatment, Mr. Atkinson added that participants fasted for many days and drank only Chinese tea.
Mrs. Carr-Gomm’s Type 1 diabetes necessitated the daily use of insulin for the regulation of her blood glucose levels.
According to Mr. Atkinson’s testimony in court, she told Mr. Xiao that she had stopped taking her insulin on the first day of the session, and he “congratulated” her.
Mr. Atkinson stated that other individuals involved in the case saw Mrs. Carr-Gomm’s worsening health as a “healing crisis,” a phrase used by the defendant to describe Paida Lajin’s action.
According to Mr. Atkinson, she became critically ill in the wee hours of Thursday, four days after discontinuing insulin treatment, and succumbed to diabetic ketoacidosis.
In court, he informed the judge that Mrs. Carr-Gomm might have been rescued from certain death had she been given insulin and that “no one was better placed” than the defendant to “make sure that this happened.”
The defendant continues to deny responsibility for Ms. Carr-Gomm’s death.
The case is still ongoing.
