26 students fell ill at a Florida high school — and students want answers

Monday at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Florida started off in typical fashion. Students at the Catholic school were energized by a big football playoff win Friday, and were gearing up for the upcoming holiday by attending a Thanksgiving prayer service. But by late morning, something strange had begun to happen — 26 students and one adult became ill.

“I go to cardinal gibbons, we are under lock down,” a Twitter user named Carter, who identified himself as a student, wrote at 1 p.m. “We are all freaking out. One kid in our class doesn’t look good. I and a few others feel loopy. They need to let us out.” Thirty minutes later, he added: “All we can do is pray.”

According to later reports, the students were experiencing a myriad of symptoms — from nose bleeds to seizures — and no one could explain why.

Not long after Carter’s tweet, school authorities tweeted that some “students fell ill during a prayer service” and that “in an abundance of caution,” the school had been put on lockdown by the Fort Lauderdale Fire Department. An hour later, the school followed up to say that the campus had been “cleared,” and all students had been released for pickup.

By then, local news outlets like the Sun Sentinel, WPTV and WPLG had arrived to capture a harrowing scene: students suffering from seizures, nosebleeds, dizziness, nausea and fainting — and being transported into ambulances. According to the Sentinel, all 26 students and one adult were taken to three separate hospitals, where they were treated and released.

Neither the school nor the fire department responded to request for comment from Yahoo Lifestyle. But WPLG spoke with principal Paul Ott, who said that the Fort Lauderdale Fire Department had surveyed the scene in hazmat suits, tested for dangerous chemicals and uncovered none. In an interview with the Sentinel, battalion chief Stephen Gollan expressed his bewilderment. “There is no rhyme or reason at this time,” Gollan told the Sentinel. “We really don’t know. It’s very, very weird.”

By Monday evening, the school released a statement explaining that the fire department determined there was “no threat of contaminant present” and that the safety of the students and faculty “guided” their actions.

School resumed on Tuesday without mention of a follow-up investigation. For students like Carter (who couldn’t be reached for comment), that isn’t acceptable. “Ok tell me why we have school tomorrow after at least 26 students and 1 teacher were sent to the hospital?” Carter tweeted. “Why put us at rick [sic] when you have no idea what caused 20+ people to fall ill? Tell me how this makes sense.”

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

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• 9-year-old is allergic to her uniform, so her mom found her panda onesie to wear instead

• Students stuck on a bus for 4 1/2 hours calmed by principal reading to them via FaceTime

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