Allergy-Free Kid Accidentally Injects Himself With EpiPen During Health Class

An 11-year-old Massachusetts boy accidentally injected himself with an EpiPen Tuesday during health class.

The student was participating in a lesson on allergies, emergencies and the immune system at McDevitt Middle School in Waltham, Massachusetts, that required students to learn how to effectively administer an EpiPen. The EpiPens were supposed to not have epinephrine, but a mixup caused the child to accidentally inject himself with the drug.

Chris May's son, whose name has yet to be identified, was taken to Newton-Wellesley Hospital after mistakenly introducing epinephrine into his system. The child is reportedly allergy-free.

"During a lesson in health class about allergies, emergencies and the immune system, students were learning about EpiPens," said McDevitt's principal Michael Sabin in a letter sent home to parents, according to Waltham Patch. "As part of this lesson, students use an EpiPen Trainer. Unfortunately, a real EpiPen was accessed by a student during the lesson, and the student was injected with epinephrine."

"We are investigating this specific incident and reviewing our school-wide safety procedures to ensure that this type of incident does not take place again," Sabin added.

May's son was immediately placed on an EKG [electrocardiogram] upon arrival. Medical professionals confirmed with the child's parents that his heart rate was up. The young child was also bright red as he continued to sweat.

"I was racing 90 mph from my office in Hingham because I didn't know what was going to happen to my son," May said to ABC affiliate WCVB. "Somehow he, when he reached into the batch, got a hold of a real, live EpiPen, and used it — like everyone else — and stuck it into his thigh."

"My first question is how did a live EpiPen get mixed in with trainers? How did prescription drug be available to a student in a school in health class?" May added.

While EpiPens are a life-saving tool for those who suffer from select allergies like bee stings or peanuts, it can prove to be problematic for those without allergies if unintentionally injected.

"Unintentional injection of epinephrine can easily occur when handling epinephrine auto-injectors. If the epinephrine is injected by mistake into small areas such as fingers and hands, blood vessels will constrict at the site of injection," Poison Control states on its website. "This can decrease blood flow to the area. Less blood flow means that less oxygen is getting to the tissue. This could cause a serious injury in rare circumstances."