Parents frustrated with DC school after 6-year-old hospitalized for apparent allergic reaction

WASHINGTON - A little girl is in the hospital this afternoon recovering from what appears to be an allergic reaction to dairy that she had at her elementary school.  

Kindergartner Erin Weldon's parents reached out to FOX 5, upset with how they say the school handled her situation. 

Erin is recovering at Children's National Hospital and is expected to be ok but right now, she’s unconscious and on a ventilator. Her parents are understandably shaken and alarmed as their 6-year-old remains hooked up to a breathing machine.

They tell FOX 5 that Erin had an allergic reaction to dairy at her D.C. public school, Shepherd Elementary in Northwest Wednesday afternoon. 

They’re not exactly sure how or why Erin ingested a dairy product at school but they say Erin's dairy allergy was well known to school staff and that an action plan was in place in case something like this ever happened. 

They're upset because they say an EpiPen wasn't administered — just Benadryl — until after paramedics were called at the urging of Erin's guardian, who was picking Erin and an older sister up after school.

"My daughter almost lost her life and mistakes like that are irreversible. These are life-changing things that can happen and mistakes do happen but like I said, we do have things in place to try to prevent or to make the result less impactful," dad William Weldon said. "And the fact that that wasn’t done, wasn't administered...I just…I have no...I don’t understand that. What is it there for, right?"

William says both the Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools and Shepherd's principal have called and spoken to him but he still wants answers — and to make sure nothing like this happens again.

FOX 5 has reached out to DCPS for comment. We have not yet heard back.