A teenager on an overseas school trip died after he was told his symptoms were simply "homesickness".
Timothy Fehring, from Victoria, Australia, was on an abroad trip with Blackburn High School when he became to feel unwell.
During the school trip to Vienna, Austria, the 15-year-old was repeatedly vomiting into street bins as he battled an illness - but he was encouraged to keep participating in the planned activities.
Tim sadly died on June 28, 2019, after an infection that had spread to his lungs and blood likely caused his heart to shut down, reports News au.
A coroner's report found Tim had struggled through a walking tour of Vienna on the afternoon before he died.
Tim was pale, had bags under his eyes and was carrying a sick bag with him as he went.
The report found that while teachers made the wrong call about Tim's complaints - deeming them not serious enough for him to stop participating in the tour, they were acting on medical advice they had received and could not have prevented the teen's death.
Tim's mum Barbara Fehring has since 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 requested he be taken to hospital, but teachers on the trip had believed this was an excuse to get out of the planned activities since Tim had already seen a doctor who had suggested his symptoms could be caused by homesickness.
The teen had seen a doctor in Germany earlier on in the school trip, who had told him his symptoms of vomiting and loss of appetite could just be signs of homesickness or constipation.
Tim was taken to see a doctor again while he was in Austria, who said he should not continue with the trip and should be flown home.
While the bill for his doctor's appointment was paid Tim collapsed outside the doctor's office.
A teacher found him on the floor with vomit on his clothes and blood coming from his nose.
News au reports that the teacher then contacted the other teacher saying Tim was "extremely unwell" and he couldn't be woken up.
Tim couldn't be revived and so was then rushed by air ambulance to the Vienna Centre for Social Medicine, Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.
Medical professionals made every effort to restart his heart, but he was tragically pronounced dead soon after arriving at hospital.
Ms Fehring said she was in contact with her son and the teachers about his symptoms.
But the heartbroken mum added if she had video-called him she would have been able to see how serious the situation was.
She added that the teachers who supervised had never taught her son, adding if they had known Tim "they would have realised he was not the type of child to make a fuss".
On Monday, an email from the school principal, Joanna Alexander, shared the information that the ratio of two teachers to 17 students on the trip was in line with 2019 requirements.
Following the coroner's report, The Department of Education and Training recommended an increase in the ratio of teachers to students on international trips, in case of illness or other emergencies.
So while the ratio was acceptable at the time, it has now changed.
Ms Alexander said the Department with "satisfied" that the teachers' decisions were appropriate on the trip, while also offering condolences to Tim's family.
She said: “It is important to recognise that this tragedy continues to have a profound impact on all of our school community – students, staff, and parents."
