The mum of a 5-year-old boy from Stamford says finding out the truth about his death has been tough
Benedict Blythe died after an allergic reaction at his primary school
Last updated 10th Jul 2025
The mum of a 5 year old boy from Stamford is telling us how hard it was to hear the truth about how her son died.
Benedict Blythe died after an allergic reaction at his primary school in December 2021.
It was difficult to hear
An inquest concluded there were many factors contributing to Benedict's death.
This included a delay in giving him an adrenaline shot when the incident happened.
As well as this, there were teaching staff who hadn't seen information about his allergies.
Benedict's mother, Helen Blythe, said:
"It's been helping to answer some of the questions that we've just as a family not been able to answer up until now."
"It was difficult to hear, but I think it's been a positive in some ways to help us understand more."
"I think you don't know how you're going to feel when you hear how your son died. In a way the last couple of weeks have been both a really tough couple of weeks and also quite helpful."
"It's incredibly hard for us to hear in some ways this was a preventable death and there were things that contributed that could have been done differently."
In some ways this was a preventable death
Now, the family is calling for change to prevent any more children from dying of allergic reactions at school.
They're asking for an allergy policy in every school, staff allergy training including understanding allergies, how to manage them, and identifying signs of a reaction, and responding quickly in an emergency, and spare adrenaline allergy pens in every school.
No more children should die at school because of an allergy
Mrs Blythe added:
“There is no legislation that exists to protect children with allergies. Schools are left to interpret patchy, vague guidance and to carry life-or-death responsibility alone. This is unforgivable."
“No more children should die at school because of an allergy."
“We demand change. We call on this government protect our children with Benedict’s Law."
We have reached out to the Department for Education and Barnack Primary School for comment.