In a startling incident in Cambridge, Massachusetts, eight children from a touring French choir were rushed to the hospital after suffering seizure-like symptoms during a performance at a local church, according to officials.
Just after 7 p.m. on July 22, emergency crews rushed to St. Paul’s Parish on Mt. Auburn Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after reports of a child experiencing a seizure during a live choir performance.
The child – a member of the Children’s Choir of Île-de-France – was singing with several other kids, between 11 and 13 years old, at a free concert as part of their 2025 U.S. tour, according to a post on St. Paul’s Harvard Square Facebook page.
“The Chœur d’Enfants d’Île-de-France will offer a free concert at St. Paul’s as part of their 2025 US tour. Founded in 1970, the youth choir has travelled extensively and performed with some of the world’s top conductors and soloists. The concert will feature and exciting mix of sacred and secular repertoire, as well as popular French songs,” the post explains.
But something went wrong.
‘Quickly escalated’
When firefighters arrived at the parish, they found one child sitting on the front steps – alert but recovering from an apparent seizure, officials said, adding that the single medical call quickly spiraled into a full-blown emergency.
“That quickly escalated into 7 other people having seizure-like symptoms,” the city’s fire Chief Thomas Cahill told ABC affiliate WCVB. “They were all transported to hospitals around the Cambridge area.”
Expressing his surprise at how quickly the situation escalated, Cahill added: “This was somewhat unusual. It was a routine medical call that quickly escalated into transporting eight children to the hospital. Not common.”
While the eight children “were treated for non-life-threatening medical emergencies on scene” and “ transported to medical facilities for further evaluation,” roughly 70 other attendees at the Cambridge choir concert were unaffected, according to Cambridge Fire officials.
Mysterious odor
Several students and adults reported a strange odor inside the Cambridge church just before chaos unfolded – but when emergency crews arrived, they couldn’t detect anything unusual.
Despite the alarming symptoms reported by the children, hazmat and rescue crews swept through the Cambridge church and found no hazardous substances, officials reported.
“The Fire Dept hazmat team completed a thorough survey of the St. Paul buildings utilizing several air sampling meters to ensure that no hazardous conditions were present. Results were negative and the buildings were ventilated,” the fire department shared in a Facebook post. “All occupants and concert attendees left the scene with designated chaperones.”
But the cause of the mysterious incident remains unknown.
Recent renos
One of the parents, Jonathan Deitch, revealed that one of the rooms inside the church had recently undergone floor renovations – a detail that could be key as officials investigate what caused multiple French choir children to fall ill during the performance.
“I think it was polyurethane,” Dietch told WCVB. “I think they were refinishing the wood floor and so there was the suspicion that maybe kids who were close to that were affected by that.”
The kids were all released from hospital and the next day, they were practicing for their next show – outdoors.
We hope the kids are all okay and continue to sing their little hearts out!
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