Man who became paraplegic after swallowing garden slug dies aged 28
A promising Sydney rugby player has died, eight years after a dare left him paralysed.
Sam Ballard was enjoying a few red wines with his friends when a garden slug crawled across the outdoor table in 2010. After some banter, the then 19-year-old ate it.
While the North Shore local didn’t immediately fall ill, he did complain of a sharp pain in his legs a few days later.
After initial tests, doctors discovered that he had been infected with rat lungworm, which resulted in an infection in his brain.
He subsequently fell into a coma for 420 days after contracting eosinophilic meningoencephalitis – a strand of meningitis.
Sam spent three years in hospital and was left paralysed and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, suffering seizures.
The Sunday Project’s Lisa Wilkinson, who earlier this year did a segment on Sam’s battle, confirmed the 28-year-old’s passing in a brief segment.
“His friends have stuck by him ever since. On Friday, Sam passed away, surrounded by his family and loyal, loving mates,” Wilkinson said.
“His last words to his mum: ‘I love you’.”
Before the accident, Mr Ballard’s mother Katie described how she saw her son as ‘invincible’, writing in a 2011 Facebook post that she hoped he would walk again.
“Sam is doing really well. He is still the same cheeky Sam, and laughs a lot,” she wrote.
