Father desperately tried to save life of son, five, when he suffered fatal allergic reaction after eating biscuit at school, inquest hears

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

A father desperately tried to save his five-year-old son's life as he suffered a fatal allergic reaction after eating a biscuit at school, an inquest has been told.
Peter Blythe arrived at Barnack Primary, in Stamford, Lincolnshire, to discover his son Benedict unconscious on the floor and staff frantically trying to revive him.
He has now been giving evidence at the inquest, describing at Peterborough Town Hall his efforts to help.
The tragedy unfolded on December 1 2021 when Benedict, who was allergic to dairy, eggs, peanuts, sesame and chickpeas, vomited during breaktime.
Mr Blythe said: 'Benedict was dying in front of us and I could not believe what was happening.'
The retired RAF senior aircraftsman immediately began CPR but struggled to clear mucus blocking Benedict's airway.
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 - then stepped in to assist, having been trained in first aid.
Mr Read said: '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.
'Everyone was working together to do the right thing. At the time, the CPR felt like it was working.'
Mr Blythe and school staff continued to perform CPR for between 10 and 15 minutes before paramedics arrived.
Benedict's mother Helen got there just two minutes later, at the same time as an air ambulance.
The child was taken to Peterborough City Hospital but was pronounced dead shortly before 1pm on the day he was taken ill.
Benedict had not previously shown signs of an allergic reaction and teaching assistant Sophie Brown said she assumed the sickness that day was related to an illness earlier in the week, the inquest has heard.
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 he was having an allergic reaction and fetched his epi-pens immediately.
Benedict vomited for a second time 10 minutes later and his class teacher Jenny Brass took him outside to get some fresh air - and it was at this point he collapsed.
Ms Brown told the inquest: 'I heard Jenny shouting my name and she was carrying Benedict inside.
'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 - and then when he stopped breathing she began to perform CPR.
Paramedics and his father had been called and Mr Blythe arrived shortly afterwards.
Benedict was one of three children in the class with known allergies - though Ms Brown said she had not seen any written allergy management plan for him.
She had received online anaphylaxis training and online and in-person training on how to use an epi pen, the inquest was told.
The jury heard that Benedict, who lived in Stamford with his parents and younger sister Etta, had eaten a McVities 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.
Benedict's mother Helen Blythe was among those giving evidence on the opening day earlier this week of the inquest into the death of her 'kind-souled' son'.
She told how he was 'not just a child with allergies' but 'a whole universe', as she paid tribute to the boy as 'curious, funny, kind and loving - adding: 'The world should have been safer for him.'
Elizabeth Gray, the area coroner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, has addressed a jury at Peterborough Town Hall considering a verdict in the inquest.
She informed the court how Benedict as kept home from school on November 30, shortly before his death, because he was unwell and had vomited the previous night - but he 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 was then offered oat milk by a class teacher but declined to drink it.
The inquest is scheduled to continue for the rest of the week, with other school staff and health professionals lined up to give evidence.