A mother whose nine-year-old son died after falling ill during a Halloween party at a London school is demanding answers, saying that staff failed to call an ambulance.
It was only after Lorna Williams was summoned to Berger Primary School following her son Rasharn’s “panic attack” that staff asked her if they should dial 999, she said.
Ms Williams says the delay wasted vital minutes that could have saved his life. The governing body of the school in Hackney Wick has ordered an investigation.
Rasharn was under the care of a specialist at Great Ormond Street Hospital after being born with a hole in the heart and the party on October 23 was the first that he had attended alone.
He was dropped at school by his mother who then went shopping in Leyton with her 11-year-old daughter.
She said: “I had a call to say, ‘Can you come to school because Rasharn has had a panic attack because he had a fright’. I said, ‘He has a heart problem, are you sure it’s not a seizure or fit?’, and they said, ‘No, he’s having a panic attack’, so I zoomed to the school.
“It took me half an hour to get there. The worst thing about it is when I got there they asked me if they should call the ambulance. The ambulance then took seven minutes to get there — my son could have been in the hospital by then and being taken care of.” Rasharn was taken to Homerton Hospital but died two hours later. His mother, who works at the hospital as a receptionist, said: “I wouldn’t feel like this if they had called the ambulance. I believe he could have still been here.”
Headteacher Steve Gleason said: “Everyone at Berger Primary is devastated by the tragic loss of Rasharn, who was a popular, well-liked pupil of our school. A governing body-commissioned investigation is now under way so it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”
An inquest has been opened.
