Teen dies on school trip after constant vomiting is put down to homesickness

A teenager died during a school trip overseas after his symptoms, caused by an infection that had spread to his blood and lungs, were dismissed as homesickness.

Timothy Fehring, from Victoria, Australia, was on a trip to Vienna, Austria with Blackburn High School when he first began to feel unwell.

The 15-year-old soon began repeatedly vomiting into bins in the street as he battled the infection, but he was still encouraged to participate in activities with his peers.

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Tim died on June 28, 2019, after the illness likely caused his heart to shut down, News au reports.

A coroner's report learned Tim had struggled to make it through a walking tour of Vienna the afternoon before his tragic death.

He was pale, had bags under his eyes, and had to carry a sick bag with him as he went because of the regularity of his vomiting.

The report found that Tim's teachers were acting upon the medical advice they had received and could not have prevented his death, despite the devastating outcome of their actions.

Tim's mum Barbara Fehring told News Corp: "He was very, very sick, but he wanted to soldier on.

"He had a lot of respect, the way that we taught him about respecting adults. So if someone in authority was to say something to him he would never question it."

Tim had asked to go to the hospital, but teachers on the trip had reportedly thought this was an excuse to get out of planned activities.

In addition, Tim had already seen a doctor in Germany earlier on the trip who had said his symptoms could be caused by homesickness or constipation.

Tim was later taken to see a doctor again while in Austria, who said he should not continue on the trip and should instead be flown home.

Tim collapsed outside the doctor's office while the bill for his appointment was being paid, and when a teacher found him he had vomit on his clothes and blood coming out of his nose.

The teacher then contacted another member of staff, saying Tim was 'extremely unwell' and he couldn't be woken up.

Tim was pronounced dead soon after arriving at hospital.

Ms Fehring said she was in contact with both her son and his teachers about the troubling symptoms – but she mentioned that, had she video-called him, she would have been able to pick up on how serious the situation really was.

The teachers who supervised the trip had never taught her son, and the devastated mum added that if they had known Tim "they would have realised he was not the type of child to make a fuss".

An email from school principal Joanna Alexander revealed the ratio of students to teachers was 17 to two, in line with 2019 requirements.

The coroner's report has prompted The Department of Education and Training to recommend an increase in the ratio of teachers to students on international trips – meaning that more teachers are now needed on a trip of this size.

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