Man who died at NSW northern rivers retreat was ‘blue in the face’ as ceremony continued nearby, inquest told

Jarrad Antonovich, who died after consuming ayahuasca and Kambo frog toxin while at a retreat in the northern rivers of NSW in 2021 Photograph: Supplied

Before his death at a festival where he consumed a psychedelic substance made from boiling plants and had secretions of a frog administered to his skin, Jarrad Antonovich was “gentle, kind, never aggressive, a talented musician”, an inquest has heard.

Antonovich died in October 2021, at the age of 46, while attending the Dreaming Arts festival, a six-day retreat at Arcoora near Kyogle in northern New South Wales.