Nine Children Hospitalised After Eating Seeds at Nottinghamshire School
Nine children were sent to hospital after a primary school head declared a medical emergency – because students had eaten seeds in the playground. Paramedics, police cars and a 'hazardous area response team' descended on Jesse Gray Primary School in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire at around 2pm on Wednesday. Students were rushed to Queen's Medical Centre, with eight ambulances seen on site.
The school's head teacher, Chris Belton, has now confirmed the students were taken to hospital amid fears they had eaten from trees in the school grounds. He said: 'As a precaution, nine year 6 pupils were taken to the Queen's Medical Centre where they were monitored for several hours. All nine pupils were discharged after a short period and have since had no adverse reactions. I am delighted to say that all nine pupils are back in school today.'
Mr Belton said the area where the children were playing remains cordoned off following a 'professional inspection' by the school's ground maintenance team. He added a 'small number of trees' will be removed. It follows fears the children may have eaten 'poisonous berries'.
One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Sun: 'It caused a bit of a panic, but I suppose the ambulance service can't be too careful when they get a call from a school saying kids have eaten strange berries. Thankfully it wasn't as serious as it might have looked at first. But any parent who hadn't heard what happened and then saw all the paramedics outside the school would have got a bit of a shock, and been incredibly worried. It was some of the older children, rather than the little ones. But they have been checked over, and are okay.' The parent said they expected there to be a 'few questions for the school about how the pupils got hold of them'.
Nottinghamshire Police previously said officers had attended in a 'supportive capacity'. Mr Belton said today: 'This morning's school assembly reinforced the message of safe play and the dangers of eating berries or seeds from trees and shrubs. I would also like to commend the swift actions of Jesse Gray staff and the robust and prompt response from the emergency services.'
