An Australian man who tragically passed away years after becoming paralyzed from eating a slug had the most heartbreaking final words.
Back in 2010, when he was just 19 years old, Sam Ballard’s life took a dramatic turn after his friends dared him to eat a slug.
Jimmy Galvin, one of Sam’s close friends, was there to witness the whole thing.
He recalled the moment during an interview with The Project, saying, “We were sitting over here having a bit of a red wine appreciation night, trying to act as grown ups and a slug came crawling across here.”
“The conversation came up, ‘should I eat it?’ and off Sam went. Bang. That’s how it happened.”
After Sam swallowed the slug, he found out that it was infected with a parasite called rat lungworm.
Sam Ballard’s life changed forever at the age of 19Family Handout
This led to him experiencing severe weakness and pain throughout his legs.
Unfortunately, Sam then contracted a type of meningitis known as eosinophilic meningoencephalitis.
While this particular disease can be treated, it is quite serious and ultimately caused significant damage to Sam’s health.
He fell into a coma that lasted 420 days.
When he finally woke up, he was left severely disabled.
The parasite had caused an infection that spread to his brain, which left Sam paralyzed, only able to control his breathing and his eyelids.
Katie Ballard, Sam’s mother, took on the role of a full-time caregiver for her son, providing him with round-the-clock support.
Before this life-changing incident, Sam was an enthusiastic rugby player.
Sadly, he died after struggling with numerous medical challenges.
The Project host, Lisa Wilkinson, shared that before Sam passed away at the age of 29 in November 2018, he was “surrounded by his family and loyal, loving mates.”
She also revealed that Sam’s last words to his mother were simply, “I love you.”
Sam needed round-the-clock careTheProjectTV
Katie has never held Sam’s friends responsible for what happened to him.
She expressed her thoughts to the NZ Herald, saying, “Online trolls would say the boys should be the ones paying for Sam to be looked after.”
“How stupid that a kid does something like that and expects everybody to pay for it.”
“It’s tough to fathom that there are people that can’t understand there is a very sick kid who has lost everything health-wise.”
“His family have lost him, you know. And all the great times they should have had with him.”
She added that the boys were “just being mates.”
During Sam’s funeral in 2018, his brother Joshua addressed Sam’s friends directly, stating, “We don’t want you to feel any guilt about what happened that night.”
“Your friendship to Sam was extraordinary.”
