A Sydney man who fell into a coma for 420 days after eating a slug has died.
Sam Ballard, 28, was paralysed after contracting rat lungworm from a slug he swallowed as a dare.
“The conversation came up, you know. ‘Should I eat it?’ And off Sam went. Bang. That’s how it happened,” a friend of Sam’s – Jimmy Galvin – later said.
Sam became gravely ill in the days after swallowing the slug.
Rat lungworm usually affects rodents.
After 420 days in a coma Sam woke with a brain injury.
On a segment on The Sunday Project, – eight years after the dare – Lisa Wilkinson broke the news of Sam’s tragic death.
“We have some sad news for you now. Earlier this year we brought you the story of Sam Ballard who, on a dare from his mates, ate a slug.
He contracted rat lung disease with devastating effects,” Lisa told the show.
“His friends have stuck by him ever since. On Friday, Sam passed away, surrounded by his family and loyal, loving mates.
“His last words to his mum: ‘I love you’.”
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