Sam Ballard was just 19 when he was left severely disabled after being dared by friends to eat a slug.
Since the 2010 incident, Ballard carried around a copy of the Dr Seuss book Oh the Places You’ll Go.
As his family and friends said a final goodbye at his funeral on Thursday, November 8, the book was read one last time.
“You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose,” friend Mike Scheasby read from the book.
“You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And you are the guy who’ll decide where you go.”
Sam, 29, died last Friday, November 2, after a long fight.
In 2010, the then 19-year-old was with mates in a backyard in Sydney’s north when a slug crawled past and the group dated him to eat it.
Sam contracted rat lungworm, a parasite usually found in rodents, but slugs and snails can become infected with it as well. He spent 420 days in a coma before waking with severe brain damage.
But at his funeral service, Sam’s family insisted the mates with him that night must never feel any blame.
“We don’t want you to feel any guilt about what happened that night,”his brother Joshua said.
Instead, Joshua praised “Team Ballard” – the army of friends who rallied around Sam and continued to support him until his death.
“Your friendship to Sam was extraordinary,” Joshua said.
Sam’s mother Katie, sister Melanie and brother Joshua were joined by hundreds of friends, as well as Sam’s doctors and nurses from Royal North Shore Hospital.
Also among the mourners were Sam’s former girlfriend, actress Anna Bamford, and journalist Lisa Wilkinson.
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