Mother pays tribute to her son Benedict Blythe from Stamford as inquest begins into his death after allergic reaction at school

The mother of a child who died after falling ill at school told an inquest jury “the world should have been safer for him”.

A jury of 11 are being asked to consider what caused the death of five-year-old Benedict Blythe, who suffered a severe allergic reaction on December 1, 2021 while at Barnack Primary School.

After describing her son to the jury as having “that grown up curiosity of a child who had just started school but still had baby dimples on the knuckles of his hands”, Helen Blythe shared a video of Benedict opening the first door of his dairy-free advent calendar on the morning of the day he died. His younger sister, Etta, and his favourite toy, a monkey he called Ray, could be seen with him as he delighted in the task.

Later that day, at school, Benedict went outside at breaktime and had a snack of biscuits he had brought in from home. He returned inside and was given an oak milk drink by his teacher - although he decided not to drink it and it was poured away.

Soon afterwards Benedict started to vomit and was looked after by a teaching assistant. He vomited again and was escorted outside by his class teacher ‘for some air’. It was then that he collapsed and was brought back into school where an adrenaline auto-injector was administered by a teaching assistant trained in how to use one. A second dose was also given but Benedict had stopped breathing.

CPR was started by school staff, and when Benedict’s father arrived, he joined them in giving CPR. Helen arrived to find her son lying on the floor of the reception classroom surrounded by people. She held his hand and asked for someone to get Ray out of Benedict’s bag so he could have him with him in hospital.

Paramedics and an air ambulance were dispatched and Benedict travelled in a ambulance with his mother to Peterborough City Hospital where he was worked on in resuscitation for an hour. He died at 12.57pm.

According to a post mortem examination, Benedict’s cause of death was food-induced anaphylaxis - a severe allergic reaction.

The inquest taking place at Peterborough Town Hall began today (Monday, June 30) with the swearing in of 11 jurors.

Mrs Blythe, attending the hearing with her husband, Pete, was first to appear as a witness, first reading a pen portrait about their son, then responding to aspects of a formal statement she had provided for the inquest. During her evidence she spoke movingly and told the inquest ”the day Benedict died our world broke”.

Benedict was allergic to dairy, eggs, peanuts, sesame and chickpeas but the cause of his anaphylactic reaction at school has not been ascertained before the inquest.

Mrs Blythe’s statement referred to choosing Barnack Primary School for Benedict because they had lived in Barnack before moving to Stamford, and because they had felt reassured during visits to the school before he joined, in September 2020, that school staff were knowledgeable about allergy management.

Members of Barnack Primary School staff, doctors, paramedics and representatives from the snack-food company Pladis, will give evidence at the inquest over the coming week.