Five-year-old Benedict Blythe from the United Kingdom died in December 2021 after collapsing at school following a severe allergic reaction.
His parents were forced to endure the kind of nightmare no parent should ever have to face: losing their young son after an allergic reaction turned fatal.
Benedict had several known allergies, including allergies to milk and eggs. According to Metro, he had been sick the day before and had vomited, but appeared to be feeling better the following morning and was well enough to go to school.
Benedict died from an allergic reaction
Later that day, however, his parents received a call from the school saying that Benedict was unwell. Staff took him outside in an attempt to help him get some fresh air, but his condition quickly worsened and he collapsed.
A staff member trained in first aid administered an epinephrine injection, but sadly, it had no effect. CPR was then started while they waited for an ambulance.
Despite the efforts to save him, Benedict could not be revived. His cause of death was later determined to be food-induced anaphylaxis.
An inquest later concluded that several failings likely played a role in his death, including delays in giving him adrenaline and problems with communicating and following his allergy care plan.
Following years of campaigning by Helen and Benedict’s father, Peter, the first phase of Benedict’s Law has now taken effect in England. The changes require schools to improve their allergy policies, staff training and emergency preparedness, while life-saving adrenaline pens are also being made available in schools, according to Tyla.
His parents opened up about their grief
Losing a child is a pain no parent can ever truly prepare for. Speaking to Metro, Helen opened up about the devastating loss of her son and the pain her family has carried since his death.
“The day Benedict died, our world broke but what’s even more unbearable is the knowledge that we weren’t alone.
“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.”
Helen recently appeared on Good Morning Britain, where she spoke about the devastating loss.
“He’d got an allergy that we’d known about since he was four months old,” she recalled. “So, he was allergic to a few things, but particularly cow’s milk.
“And so, when he went off to school, we asked all the right questions. We asked whether there was a policy, training.”
“We also provided information for the school to turn into their own plan.”
“We really urge them to take this seriously”
She continued: “So we did, I think, all we could have done as parents to make sure that they had the information that they needed to keep him safe.”
“What happened was, the processes that we agreed weren’t followed, and they gave him milk containing cow’s milk protein, which we knew he was allergic to.
“The people providing his care hadn’t seen the plan that we’d given, and ultimately, they gave him the medication too late to save his life. He had an EpiPen on him, but it was used too late.”
“We’ve had so many teachers reach out to us this week saying, ‘I’ve done my training, I’m so pleased, I feel so much more confident’,” she explained. “I think it’s why it’s so important that this isn’t a tick box for school.
“And while we’re really pleased that statutory guidance has come in, how they deliver on that is up to each school. Some will go above and beyond, and others may see this as a tick-box exercise. We really urge them to take this seriously.”
Benedict’s Law
Helen hopes the changes brought about by the campaign will prevent other families from experiencing the same devastating loss.
“He was the loveliest little boy; he was incredibly kind and sweet,” she said.
“When he started school, on his first day, there was a little boy near him who was really nervous, and he noticed this, reached out his hand and said, ‘It’s okay, I’ll take you in’.
“I think that’s a really good way of describing who he was, and it’s why doing something in his memory that supports other children is so important to us.”
Benedict’s Law was introduced after the Blythe family spent years campaigning for stronger protections, bringing new requirements aimed at helping schools better safeguard children with allergies and act quickly in an emergency.
But for Helen, putting the measures in place is just the beginning.
What matters now is making sure schools put them into practice. Benedict’s story is a devastating reminder of why those protections matter, and of the little boy whose life and memory helped bring about change.
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