Teen paralysed and eventually killed after eating slug for a dare at a party

A teenager was left paralysed and suffered a horrific death after eating a slug for a dare at a birthday party.

Promising young rugby player Sam Ballard, from Sydney in Australia, was drinking at a friend's house when they spotted the creepy crawly on the patio. The then 19-year-old ate the slug after being egged on by his mates - unaware it was infected with the deadly rat lungworm disease.

Typically found in rodents, the parasite passes its larvae into the animals’ faeces which can then spread to snails and slugs. Sam didn’t become ill immediately, but complained of serious pains in his legs in the days after the party in 2010.

He was concerned it might have been a consequence of eating the slug, but his mum told him that “no one gets sick from that”. Sam eventually contracted a brain infection and lapsed into a coma for 420 days before doctors were able to revive him. He was paralysed from the neck down after waking up and suffered seizures, struggled to regulate his body temperature, and had to be tube fed. He passed away at the age of 28 in 2018, “surrounded by his family and loyal, loving mates”.

Describing the night of the party in 2010, his friend Jimmy previously told The Project: “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 up, ‘Should I eat it?’ Off Sam went. Bang. That’s how it happened.”

Another friend, Michael Sheasby, described seeing Sam for the first time in hospital after the party. He said: "When I walked in, he was very very gaunt, and there were cables everywhere - it was a big shock." Sam’s heartbreaking final words to his mum Katie were “I love you”.