Boy with allergy nearly dies as he is given nut sweet at school

Rehan Butt, seven, was unable to breathe and needed intensive care in hospital after he ate some of the sweet, believed to have been handed to him by a substitute teacher.

His family believe he could have died and have made a complaint to St Matthew’s C of E Primary School in Bradford, claiming staff had been aware of his allergy for three years.

The boy’s aunt, Farzana Hussain, 26, said: “Rehan has a serious allergy. He suffered two cardiac arrests and one respiratory arrest because he ate that sweet.

“He couldn’t breathe on his own and he had to be hooked up to a ventilator.

“He has been going to that school for three years and everyone there knows about his allergies and how serious they are. I just can’t believe that someone would give him a chocolate with a nut in it.

“He asked the teacher if he was allowed a chocolate and when they said yes, he trusted them.

“By the time he had bitten into it and realised what had happened, it was too late.”

Rehan was given the chocolate for a child’s birthday as he was leaving school for the day on Tuesday. Having eaten about half, he spat the rest out but his face began to swell.

Rehan’s mother, Razwana Butt, 28, saw him spit something on the floor but said he did not told her what he had eaten and she only realised it was a nut sweet when she saw the wrapper.

“He was saying he was finding it difficult to breathe and he was panicking,” Ms Butt added. “We called an ambulance and luckily it arrived really quickly.

“They gave him adrenaline and oxygen and then we got to Bradford Royal Infirmary. When we got to the hospital he went into cardiac arrest and his heart stopped twice. Luckily, he came round after resuscitation.

“We really want to raise awareness of how dangerous giving a child the wrong thing can be, because it could have been much worse. Rehan could have died.”

Ms Butt added that she had been told Rehan could have suffered brain damage, had the ambulance not arrived so quickly.

The schoolboy was transferred to the intensive care unit at Leeds General Infirmary before being brought back to Bradford Royal Infirmary on Wednesday.

Ms Hussain added: “I don’t know how this could have happened. In the school’s classroom they have an allergy board which has each child’s picture on it and what they are allergic to.

“My sister always reminds people that he is allergic to nuts at birthday parties and all the children in his class know he is allergic to them. I went to see the head teacher to tell them how badly it had affected Rehan. He apologised to me but I don’t know what is going to happen with the member of staff who gave him the sweet.

“Luckily Rehan is off the ventilator now but he is very disorientated. We have been talking to him about his friends from school and he doesn’t remember them.

“After one of his family came to see him, we were talking to him about it later and he couldn’t remember the visit.”

The school’s headteacher, Bob Curran, said: “We can assure Rehan’s family that there will be a full investigation. We wish Rehan and his family all the best for his recovery.”