‘Kind-souled' five-year-old died after allergic reaction at school, inquest told

Independent

2 days ago

A 'kind-souled' five-year-old boy died after a serious allergic reaction which caused him to collapse at school, an inquest has heard.
A jury at Peterborough Town Hall heard that Benedict Blythe, who was in his first year at Barnack Primary School in Stamford, Lincolnshire, died in hospital on December 1 2021 after vomiting at school.
Helen Blythe said during the first day of the inquest into her son's death: 'Benedict was not just a child with allergies, he was a whole universe – curious, funny, kind and loving – and the world should have been safer for him.'
The cause of death for Benedict, who was allergic to milk, eggs and some nuts, was recorded as food-induced anaphylaxis, Elizabeth Gray, the area coroner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said.
Ms Gray told the jury: 'Benedict was five years old at the time of his death.
'He suffered from asthma and a number of allergies including milk and an egg allergy.'
The inquest heard Benedict was kept home from school on November 30 because he was unwell and had vomited the previous night, but went to school as normal on December 1.
The coroner said Benedict ate a biscuit during that school day which he had brought from home and then was offered oat milk by a class teacher, but he refused to drink it.
He then vomited so his parents were called to pick him up, but he vomited a second time and was taken outside for fresh air where he 'collapsed'.
An adrenaline auto-injector (AAI) was administered by a first aid-trained teaching assistant but Benedict was 'not responding' before CPR was attempted.
Emergency services were called but the schoolboy died later that day at Peterborough City Hospital.
Benedict's mother, who gave evidence to the inquest, told the jury that vomiting was 'always' the first symptom of his allergic reactions, but 'how it played out after that varied'.
She said the school was given a management plan with 'things we knew as a family and as his parents' about his allergic reactions.
In a witness statement read to the inquest, Mrs Blythe said Benedict was 'well-aware' of his allergic reactions, adding: 'I believe he had an allergic reaction and this is what caused his death.'
She added that Benedict 'woke up as normal and in good health' that morning with no temperature or cough.
She described feeling 'terrified' when she learnt that Benedict had become unwell.
The inquest heard that Benedict was 'not necessarily adventurous' with food but had become 'increasingly anxious' about asking whether things contained milk because of previous allergic reactions.
Dr Emilia Wawrzkowicz, a consultant paediatrician, said the initial post-mortem examination report recorded Benedict's cause of death as asthma but she felt 'very strongly' that it was due to anaphylaxis.
She told the court: 'The original post-mortem report had concluded on the balance of probabilities that the cause of death was asthma. I whole-heartedly disagreed with this. I was shocked to have seen this.'
She said one of the reasons she believed this was because there was 'never any suggestion of airway compromise'.
A video was shown to the jury of Benedict opening his advent calendar before school with his younger sister on the day he died.
Mrs Blythe told the inquest the chocolate he ate from the advent calendar was dairy-free.
She also read a pen portrait to the inquest, saying: 'Quick-minded and kind-souled, Benedict's love of 'playing numbers' was one hint to why he joined Mensa when he was four.
'His superpower was his kind heart, and it's that kindness that is so missing from our lives.
'The first return to a new school year after his death, children said 'I wish Benedict was here – he'd stop me feeling nervous'.
'Aside from the joy Benedict had in his life, he had to develop his own quiet kind of bravery.
'He lived with allergies and chronic asthma, and sometimes that meant missing out — on parties, on snacks other children could eat, on ice creams from the ice cream van – but he never let it define him.
'The day Benedict died, our world broke but what's even more unbearable is the knowledge that we weren't alone.
'Benedict was not just a child with allergies, he was a whole universe – curious, funny, kind and loving – and the world should have been safer for him.'
The Benedict Blythe Foundation was set up in his memory and, along with The Allergy Team and the Independent Schools' Bursars Association (ISBA), launched the schools allergy code last year to protect children with allergies and set out how schools can keep pupils safe.
The inquest, which is expected to last two weeks, continues.