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More than a dozen Chesapeake students, chaperones become ill during trip to Florida

Posted at 6:48 PM, Apr 12, 2015
and last updated 2015-04-13 19:51:59-04

Orange City, Fla. - More than a dozen Chesapeake high school students and their chaperones are back home after spending the night at a Florida hospital.  Some of them became ill during a spring break trip there.

According to Deborah McNabb, a spokesperson for Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City, there were 60 students and 14 chaperones traveling on a bus when some of them became sick late Saturday.

The students returned to Grassfield High School early Monday morning and are part of the school's chorus.

There is conflicting information about how many people were sick.  The hospital spokesperson says 25 people were treated; the school spokesperson says it was 15.

McNabb says they had gastrointestinal discomfort.  It is unclear exactly what caused them to become ill.

According to McNabb, the bus also had mechanical problems.  They were unable to find hotels to stay in, so hospital staff let them spend the night in the cafeteria and provided them with blankets, food, water and masks.

According to a student who was on the bus, a replacement double-decker bus was brought in to take them all home.  Those who were ill were kept on the bottom level away from everyone else.

They finally made it back to Chesapeake around 4 a.m. Monday.