Man ate a slug after a dare, resulting in a tragic outcome

A silly dare among a group of friends turned into a tragedy that left a young man paralyzed and then claimed his life.

When 19-year-old Sam Ballard gulped a slug after being dared by his friends, he never assumed his life would change for the worse.

Shortly after the stunt, Ballard complained of leg pain, which doctors believed to be a multiple sclerosis, a disease his father suffered from. However, it was later determined that the young man contracted rat lungworm, a parasitic infection found in rodents that can also infect snails and slugs through the larvae in their feces.

Sam Ballard / Facebook

It didn’t take long before the promising rugby player lost the ability to walk.

Speaking of the day Ballard made the tragic choice to eat that slug, one of his friends, Jimmy Galvin, recalled, “We were sitting, having a bit of a red wine appreciation night, trying to act as grown-ups and a slug came crawling across. The conversation came, ‘should I eat it?’ [and] off Sam went.”

Sadly, the infection affected Ballard’s brain. He contracted meningitis and was left in coma for 420 days. When he finally woke up, doctors determined he had brain damage.

Over the years following the incident, he did regain some use of his limbs but still needed to be fed.

Danny Aarons | News Corp Australia

The disease hadn’t affected his mental abilities, however.

“He’s in there, 100%,” Galvin told The Sunday Project. “I apologized to Sam about everything that happened that night in the backyard. And he just started bawling his eyes out. I know he’s there.”

Sadly, Sam Ballard passed away eight years after gulping the snail and contracting the awful disease.

His obituary read: “Sam was a true battler and hero to his younger brother Joshua and sister Melanie. He had an army of friends and family who have loved and cared for him for which he was truly grateful.

“His last days were the happiest and he was surrounded by a room full of love.”

Please SHARE this article with your family and friends on Facebook.

Bored Daddy

Love and Peace

Monica Pop
Monica Pop
Monica Pop is a senior writer for Bored Daddy magazine covering the latest trending and popular articles across the United States and around the world.

More from author

Related posts

Latest posts

The holy items inside Pope Francis’ casket

Pope Francis “returned to the home of the Father,” and the news of his passing, mere hours after his final public appearance, sent waves...

Boy, 6, dies after showing symptom nearly all kids experience

The Menai-Davis family experienced an inexplicable loss when their 6-year-old son, Hugh, passed away in September 2021. The boy was diagnosed with a rare and...

May Jimmy Kimmel be quitting TV?

Jimmy Kimmel has to be one of the most beloved TV faces. Except for being the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live, he has been in...

Dog’s barking at a funeral exposes an empty coffin

That morning felt heavier than any other. Ryan was returning home for his father's funeral, the man who meant the world to him. When...

The science behind eye ‘sleep:’ What that crust really is

Overnight, a yellow crust known as eye sleep builds up on our eyelashes and the corners of our eyes. At some people, the eye...

Pope Francis’ last public appearance sends a deep message

The Catholic world is mourning the passing of the first pope from Latin America, Pope Francis, whose liberal views on the church felt like...