‘The World Should Have Been Safer for Him’: Family Says 5-Year-Old Died After Severe Allergic Reaction at School

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Benedict Blythe was in his first year at Barnack Primary School in the United Kingdom when he had a fatal allergic reaction at school. Benedict reportedly had asthma and several food allergies, including milk, eggs, and some nuts. The day he died, he allegedly ate a baked good from home a short time before the allergic reaction began. An inquest has begun to try to determine what led to the 5-year-old’s tragic death.

According to The (London) Times, during the inquest, the court was told Benedict stayed home from school on November 30, 2021, because he’d vomited and felt unwell. His parents sent him to school the following day because Benedict seemed fine. Elizabeth Gray, the area coroner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said during the inquest that Benedict ate a biscuit, what would be called a cookie in the United States, from home but refused oat milk from his teacher.

Benedict reportedly vomited and the school called his parents to pick him up. His mother, Helen Blythe, said vomiting was always her son’s first response to an allergic reaction, but “how it played out after that varied,” per the newspaper The day he died, teachers reportedly took him outside for fresh air after he vomited a second time and he collapsed. A teacher trained in first-aid administered an adrenaline auto-injector, but Benedict did not wake up.

Helen Blythe said the school had all the necessary information about Benedict’s allergies. He was perfectly healthy when he went to school, according to his mother.

Dr. Emilia Wawrzkowicz, a consultant pediatrician, said an initial post-mortem examination listed the child’s cause of death as asthma. Still, she felt “very strongly” he died from anaphylaxis, and his mother agreed.

“I believe he had an allergic reaction, and this is what caused his death,” Helen Blythe said, noting her life would never be the same without Benedict.

“The day Benedict died, our world broke, but what’s even more unbearable is the knowledge that we weren’t alone,” she said, per the news outlet. “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.”

His family created the Benedict Blythe Foundation to ensure “a learning environment safe for allergy and asthma sufferers.” The inquest continues.