Aidan Fenton, 7, vomited and died after ‘slapping therapy’



POLICE have launched an investigation into a Chinese healer after the death of a young diabetic boy who attended a “slapping therapy” workshop.

Aidan Fenton, 7, was getting treatment from the ­alternative Chinese medicine workshop at the Tasly Healthpac Centre in Hurstville when he died, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Police have spoken to a Chinese therapist Hongchi Xiao who ­advocates the use of slapping therapy — until ­patients are bruised — to cure ­illnesses and rid the body of poisons. The week- long therapy cost $1800.

Detectives are investigating whether Aidan was taken off his insulin before his death.



Mr Xiao, who hosted seminars at the workshop, left the country after being questioned by police.

It is believed Mr Xiao claimed participants in the seminar were asked to fast for three days and to undertake the slapping and stretching exercises that can prompt vomiting and dizzy spells, known as a “healing crisis”.


Geoff and Lily Fenton with their son Aidan, who died of diabetes at the Hurstville Ritz during a week long treatment conference led by a doctor who promotes slapping therapy.

A police spokeswoman told news.com.au this morning police were conducting inquiries on behalf of the Coroner and would not say if they were speaking to other seminar participants.

A post-mortem on the boy would need to be carried out to determine exactly what killed him.

Neighbours said the parents were too traumatised by Aidan’s death to speak about it. “All we can hear is them crying all the time ... They were such good parents, it is really hard to understand why it happened and how it happened.”

Another neighbour said Aidan was a “beautiful, really good boy”.

Mr Xiao had been in Sydney following a tour of New Zealand to promote his “Paida-Lajin” therapy, which involves slapping the body until it bruises to “unblock meridians and drive out poisons”.

He has written several books on Chinese medicine and travelled the globe spruiking his slapping therapy.


Chinese healer Hongchi Xiao has left the country after being questioned by police

“The greater the pain and bruises while slapping means there is more poison inside the body,” he told a seminar in South Africa last year. “You can be your own doctor. We were all born with a self-­healing power but we simply ignore it and spend millions of dollars paying for medications. Nature heals, doctors are only assistants.”

However, he has been surrounded by controversy before.

In 2011, Taiwanese authorities deported Xiao and fined him $US1600 for violating medical regulations, while Chinese media reports say a liver cancer patient paid him $A40000 for treatment, only to die three months later.

Aidan’s death will be referred to the Coroner, who will determine whether there is any evidence of medical malpractice.


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