In December 2024, a young Polish woman died the day after participating in an Iboga retreat in the Pérez Zeledón region of Costa Rica. The retreat was organized by Awaken Your Soul and facilitated by Anthony Esposito. Amber Antonelli, co-founder of Awaken Your Soul, was part of the team, and the site was connected to Holos Global. The woman wandered away from the group unsupervised while still under the lingering influence of Iboga—a powerful psychoactive root bark—and was later found deceased in a nearby river.
Iboga ceremonies are intense and long-lasting. The root bark contains ibogaine, a compound known for its potential to address trauma, addiction, and emotional patterns, but also for serious cardiac risks, including arrhythmias and sudden changes in blood pressure and heart rate. Effects can persist for 24 hours or more, often leaving people disoriented, physically unsteady, or emotionally vulnerable during the “afterglow” phase.
Marketings Focused on Safe Healing
Awaken Your Soul presents Iboga ceremonies as guided experiences for personal transformation in Costa Rica’s natural wilderness. Anthony Esposito serves as the lead provider in what the organization calls a nurturing and supportive space. The retreats are held in jungle locations often aligned with Holos Global’s emphasis on regenerative nature immersion.
The promise centers on profound change in an untouched setting. That same isolation, with thick forest, rivers, steep drops, and wildlife, requires constant oversight when participants are still affected by the medicine.
No Monitoring During Critical Afterglow
Twenty-four hours after ingestion, while Iboga’s afterglow continued to affect coordination, judgment, and stability, the woman left camp alone.
Retreat staff assigned no one to monitor participants during this vulnerable period. Another person who attended was incapacitated on an IV drip treating blood pressure that reached 200 to 210 over 110 following an unmeasured high dose of four spoons (compared to the standard single spoon). The facilitator who gave out the doses was also under Iboga’s influence.
The team did not inform her friend until around 9 or 10 p.m., later explaining they were reluctant to disturb him in his medical state. She had been missing for a substantial portion of the day. Search efforts that night recovered her body from the river, apparently after a slip on the bank or during an attempted crossing.
Public media reports described the incident as an accidental hiking fall, with no mention of the retreat, ceremony, or Iboga involvement.
Essential Changes Needed for Iboga Retreats
Any retreat using strong plant medicines must maintain strict, enforceable standards: continuous monitoring throughout recovery, precise and documented dosing, on-site medical readiness, immediate family and authority communication, and comprehensive aftercare.
Those considering Iboga experiences should verify providers with transparent safety records, independent reviews, and clear emergency plans. Genuine healing must never come at the expense of basic participant protection. The unregulated nature of many psychedelic retreats in Costa Rica amplifies these risks—cardiac events, disorientation, and environmental hazards have appeared in other cases in recent years.
This tragedy underscores a simple truth: powerful tools demand powerful safeguards. Until stricter oversight exists, caution and due diligence are essential for anyone exploring this path.