Head 'ran to call 999' after Benedict collapsed

A head teacher said she "ran straight to the phone" to call 999 after she saw a pupil lying on the floor in school, suffering from an allergic reaction.

Benedict Blythe, from Stamford, Lincolnshire, was treated with an adrenaline auto-injector (AAI) and given CPR after he was sick twice and collapsed at Barnack Primary School in December 2021.

Head teacher Amy Jones told an inquest a caretaker called her to a classroom, where she saw the five-year-old on the floor being treated with the AAI, or adrenaline pen.

Benedict, who had asthma and a number of allergies, including to milk and eggs, died due to food-induced anaphylaxis.

Ms Jones was giving evidence on Wednesday to the inquest at Peterborough Town Hall.

She said that, at the time, five members of staff at the school, which is between Stamford and Peterborough, had paediatric first-aid training, including how to administer an adrenaline pen.

Those staff members included teaching assistant Sophie Brown, who Ms Jones saw applying the adrenaline pen in the classroom.

She said she made the call on a telephone that was by the door in the classroom at 10:38 GMT.

When asked if she was told anything before she made the call, she said: "I don't recall what I was told but I remember very clearly running in, seeing him lying on the floor, and immediately went to call 999."

Area coroner Elizabeth Gray previously told the hearing that Benedict had been kept off school on 30 November due to being sick twice the night before.

He went back on 1 December after his mother Helen, who gave evidence on Monday, said he "was fine and didn't appear to be unwell".

The inquest previously heard that, while he was outside with other children during the morning break on 1 December, Benedict ate a gingerbread biscuit he had taken with him from home.

On Tuesday, the inquest was told in a statement by teaching assistant Chelsea Back that she remembered unwrapping Benedict's biscuit for him and seeing him eat it after he went to sit with another child.

He then returned to the classroom where he was offered oat milk but was said to have refused it.

He fell ill shortly after that and was later pronounced dead at Peterborough City Hospital.

On Wednesday, Ms Jones explained that Benedict's oat milk was in a labelled carton provided by his parents and kept in a large staff fridge, separate from the children's fridge.

The milk would be taken to the classroom and poured into his own cup, which would then be taken back to the staffroom and put in a dishwasher.

There was another child in the class who had lactose-free milk, and his milk was kept in the same fridge as Benedict's.

In a statement read out at the hearing, Ms Jones said children were allowed to take in their own snacks from home but staff were "extremely vigilant on what children ate and monitored what they brought in".

She also said the school was "heavily reliant" on parents providing information on how allergies should be managed.

Ms Jones said that in September 2021 the school had been sent documents by Benedict's parents containing a list of allergies, symptoms and treatment he should receive, and information on when to call 999.

The inquest continues.

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