Boy, 5, collapsed and died hours after drinking milk at school | UK | News
Five-year-old boy fell ill and died hours after drinking milk school. Benedict Blythe suffered from asthma and allergic to milk and eggs.
A few weeks after he started primary school, on November 29, 2021, he became ill overnight and vomited twice. Benedict was suspended from school the next day and returned to class on December 1.
After recess that day, Benedict returned to his classroom and was offered a drink that must have been oat milk that his parents had sent to school. Benedict’s oat milk was kept separate from the carton of cow’s milk given to his classmates and a carton of lactose-free milk for another child in his class who was lactose intolerant.
He decided not to drink the milk offered to him in his own glass and spilled it. The classroom teacher said he wasn’t sure if Benedict had sipped some of the drink when he wasn’t looking.
Minutes later, Benedict vomited and his parents were called to the school to pick him up.
A teaching assistant cleaned Benedict up, but he vomited again. He was taken outside to get some fresh air, but collapsed and was carried back inside.
Benedict was given adrenaline twice via auto-injector by a teaching assistant trained in first aid, but he did not respond. When it was noticed that he was not breathing, CPR was performed by faculty members and Benedict’s father.
Benedict was taken to Peterborough City Hospital as paramedics and air ambulance crew rushed to the school, where paramedics battled to keep him alive. Tragically, he died later that day.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough District Coroner Elizabeth Gray published a report on preventing future deaths following Benedict’s inquest.
The report, published on Tuesday, calls on Cambridge Constabulary and the Royal College of Pathologists to take action.
Ms Gray said police took eyewitness statements and conducted an investigation at the school but found samples of Benedict’s vomit were not collected by officers.
It also found that no other official at the scene requested that samples be collected or evidence preserved. Tests performed at the hospital confirmed that Benedict had an anaphylactic reaction, according to the report.
The coroner found that the initial investigation focused on the McVitie biscuit that Benedict ate during recess that day and brought from home.
Ms Gray’s report states that it became clear during the investigation that the biscuit did not cause the anaphylactic reaction and that it was “more likely than not” that Benedict’s reaction was due to exposure to cow’s milk protein.
Saving samples and testing them by pathologists could have helped identify the cause of Benedict’s reaction earlier and “prevent future deaths,” he said.
Benedict’s father, Peter Blythe, told an earlier inquest hearing that he found his son at school. Quoting Mr Blythe: SunHe said: “Benedict was dying before our eyes and I couldn’t believe what was happening.”
Mum Helen told the inquest that she was aware of Benedict’s allergic reactions and woke up feeling “normal and healthy”.
In August, Benedict’s sister Etta and five other primary school students submitted a petition to Downing Street, urging the Government to implement the Benedict Act.
It aims to end the “postcode lottery” of allergy measures in schools across the UK.
Cambridgeshire Police and the Royal College of Pathologists have been approached for comment.
