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

Barack Obama’s name mentioned in Diddy trial

Barack Obama's name surfaced during Sean “Diddy” Combs' federal trial when the singer's former personal assistant David James testified that A-list guests at the...

Boxer Georgia O’Connor, 25, said doctors ‘gaslit’ her on cancer concerns for months before tragic death

British professional boxer Georgia O’Connor died of cancer aged 25. She was a decorated Team GB, winning the Commonwealth Youth gold in 2017. O’Connor was...

Doctor who worked with Joe Biden says he had cancer ‘while president’

Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis caused a stir among the public. While many shared their support, others — mainly MAGA supporters — accused him of...

Man who consumed 7 liters of soda daily for a decade suffers severe health consequences

What started as a sugar craving became a dangerous addiction with health consequences for a man who consumed 7 liters of soda for an...

5 foreign countries tightening rules for Americans living and working abroad

For a huge number of Americans, holding a US passport felt like owning a golden ticket to any place around the globe. For decades,...

Jill Biden accused of ‘elder abuse’ amid growing concerns over Joe Biden’s diagnosis

After they posted message of support and expressed their sadness over Joe Biden's aggressive prostate cancer diagnosis, Donald Trump, JD Vance, and a number...