The rugby player who swallowed the garden slug because he dared to die, 8 years after the health nightmare...
The rugby player who swallowed the garden slug because he dared to die, 8 years after the health nightmare began
Sam Ballard, seen in a previous photo with his mother, has died. (News Corp Australia, Archive)
Sam Ballard never did anything wrong, if you ask family and friends.
The teenager from the upper north coast of Sydney was laughing and a little red wine with companions in the backyard, "trying to act like adults".
It was 2010 and it was a night that would change his life, and the lives of everyone around him, forever.
A slug crawled through the concrete yard and, being teenagers as teenagers, a challenge arose for Sam to eat it.
One of his best friends, Jimmy Galvin, described the moment later.
"We were sitting here to have a bit of a night of appreciation for the red wine, trying to act like adults and a slug came crawling through here," he said.
Sam Ballard was a rugby player before the devastating effects of a garden slug infection.
"The conversation came up, you know." Should I eat it? "And Sam's gone." Explosion, that's how it happened. "
He did not get sick immediately, but complained of serious pain in his legs in the following days.
He was worried that it might have been a sign of eating the slug, but his mother told him not to worry: "Nobody gets sick from that," he said.
Sam was worried that he might have developed multiple sclerosis, like his father, but that was ruled out.
Later, doctors determined that Sam was infected with a rat lungworm.
Ballard swallowed the bullet in a "challenge".
(REUTERS / Peter Nicholls, Archive)The worm that infected Sam is usually found in rodents, but snails and slugs can also become infected when they eat rat feces.
Sam contracted eosinophilic meningo-encephalitis, from which many people recover. Sam did not do it.
He fell into a coma for 420 days and when he woke up he suffered an acquired brain injury.
Last week, eight years after he fell ill, Sam died. "The Project on Sunday," Lisa Wilkinson broke the news during a grim but brief segment.
"We have some sad news for you now, Earlier this year, we brought you the story of Sam Ballard, who, as part of his teammates, ate a bullet and contracted rat lung disease with devastating effects," Wilkinson said.
His friends have stayed with him since then. On Friday, Sam passed away, surrounded by his family and loyal and loving companions.
"His last words to his mother: 'I love you'".
Katie Ballard, Sam's mother, described how difficult life had been for Sam. He could not eat by himself and needed help to go to the bathroom.
Although initially unable to move his limbs, the former student of Barker College worked hard to regain some movement.
Katie had said "he understands" everything, and his classmates know that was true.
Galvin said he apologized to Sam for not stopping him that night in 2010. When he did, the former rugby star "started crying."
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SOURCE LINK ERESVIRAL.COM https://www.beviral.online
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