Dad tried to save five-year-old son when he had allergic reaction at school

Wales Online

02-07-2025

Dad tried to save five-year-old son when he had allergic reaction at school
Staff at the school has assumed his illness was down to a bug
Benedict Blythe
A dad desperately tried to save his five-year-old boy's life after he suffered a fatal allergic reaction at school, an inquest has heard. Peter Blythe arrived at Barnack Primary, in Stamford, Lincolnshire, to find his son Benedict unconscious on the floor and staff frantically trying to revive him.
'Benedict was dying in front of us and I could not believe what was happening,' Mr Blythe said in a statement to the inquest at Peterborough Town Hall. The retired RAF senior aircraftsman immediately began CPR but struggled to clear mucus blocking Benedict's airway.
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Music teacher Dave Read, who was working outside the reception class at the time, saw Mr Blythe enter the room and then heard him yell. He stepped in to help as he was first aid trained. 'It seemed the right decision to take over CPR, as Mr Blythe was crying. But he was not in any way doing a bad job,' Mr Read said. 'Everyone was working together to do the right thing. At the time, the CPR felt like it was working.'
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Mr Blythe and school staff continued to perform CPR for ten to 15 minutes before paramedics arrived. Benedict's mother Helen got there just two minutes later, at the same time as an air ambulance. He was taken to Peterborough City Hospital but pronounced dead shortly before 1pm.
The tragedy unfolded on December 1, 2021 when Benedict, who was allergic to dairy, eggs, peanuts, sesame and chickpeas, vomited during breaktime. He showed no other signs of an allergic reaction and teaching assistant Sophie Brown said that she assumed the sickness was related to an illness earlier in the week.
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She did not recall him asking for his blue asthma inhaler, adding that if he had then she would have taken it as a sign that he was having an allergic reaction and fetched his epi-pens immediately. Benedict vomited for a second time ten minutes later and his class teacher Jenny Brass took him outside to get some fresh air. It was at this point he collapsed.
'I heard Jenny shouting my name and she was carrying Benedict inside,' Miss Brown told the inquest. 'He was floppy and appeared to be unconscious. His skin was grey-blue which I took to mean he was in shock and I immediately got his bag and administered his EpiPen.'
She added that she could feel Benedict breathing and placed him in the recovery position. When he stopped breathing she began to perform CPR. Paramedics and his father had been called and Mr Blythe arrived shortly afterwards.
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Benedict was one of three children in the class with known allergies. Miss Brown said she had not seen any written allergy management plan for him but had received online anaphylaxis training and online and in-person training on how to use an epipen.
The jury heard that Benedict, who lived in Stamford with his parents and younger sister Etta, had eaten a gingerbread biscuit as a break time snack, which he had brought in from home. He had refused a carton of oat milk and drank water instead.
The inquest is scheduled to continue for the rest of the week, with other school staff and health professionals due to give evidence.