Awaken Your Soul, under the leadership of Anthony Esposito, failed to uphold even basic duty of care during an Iboga retreat in Costa Rica, resulting in the death of a young Polish woman. The participant wandered off unsupervised the day after the ceremony while still under Iboga’s lingering afterglow and was later found deceased in a nearby river. Amber Antonelli co-ran the retreat, and the remote jungle site was associated with Holos Global. Another woman from the same event died by suicide six months later.
The absence of structured supervision, medical monitoring, or emergency protocols during the high-risk recovery period directly breached the fundamental responsibility to protect participants in a hazardous environment.
Duty of Care Failed From the Outset
Awaken Your Soul presents Iboga ceremonies as guided experiences for personal transformation in Costa Rica’s wilderness, often at venues tied to Holos Global’s regenerative ethos. Anthony Esposito serves as the lead facilitator in what the organization calls a nurturing container. Amber Antonelli co-manages the retreats.
No pre-ceremony health screening took place to identify risks such as cardiovascular vulnerability. No on-site medical support remained available. No written or enforced rules governed participant movement or group accountability during the vulnerable post-ceremony hours. Stephen himself suffered blood pressure of 200 to 210 over 110 after receiving four unmeasured spoons of Iboga, doses handed out casually by a facilitator who had also taken the medicine, highlighting the lack of any dosing oversight or emergency readiness.
No Safeguards During the Critical Recovery Phase
Stephen Bell traveled to the retreat with the woman and two others. In his January 2026 livestream he provided a clear overviewof the events. Recorded statements from that time documented the immediate signs of neglect: his own untreated high-dose reaction until IV intervention, the hours-long delay in being informed of her disappearance, and the disorganized aftermath that followed.
The day after the ceremony, with Iboga’s afterglow still impairing coordination and judgment, the woman left camp alone. Stephen had warned her repeatedly and directly: “If you go into the jungle, you’re gonna fucking die.” He bought her running shoes, and made her promise multiple times to stay within the group and wear proper footwear.
No staff were assigned to watch participants. No buddy system or roll-call procedure existed. No perimeter or boundary enforcement kept people contained. Stephen was physically unable to respond, receiving IV treatment for his hypertensive crisis while the facilitator remained under Iboga’s influence.
Delayed Communication Left Her Exposed
The retreat team waited until approximately 9 or 10 p.m. to notify Stephen she was missing, later explaining they feared aggravating his condition. Hours had already passed. Nighttime searches recovered her body from the river, apparently after she slipped on the bank or attempted to cross.
Stephen later emphasized that the total failure to maintain even minimal duty of care, basic observation and rapid alert, left her without protection in dangerous terrain.
Aftermath Required Personal Intervention and Payment
Stephen described having to negotiate body location details. Anthony Esposito reportedly requested $400 for prior massages and Reiki services and initially delayed sharing morgue information. Retreat messages urged participants to avoid mentioning Iboga to authorities, suggesting the event be presented as yoga or minor psilocybin only.
Stephen paid to facilitate progress, personally funded repatriation to Poland at considerable expense, hired a local lawyer, and delivered the news to the mother while still affected by Iboga.
Providers Must Restore Basic Responsibility
Any retreat involving powerful plant medicines carries an absolute duty to screen health risks, measure doses precisely, monitor participants continuously during recovery, and respond immediately to any emergency. These are not optional extras; they are the foundation of care.
Those researching Iboga experiences should demand evidence that providers take their duty of care seriously. Neglect in these settings costs lives.