• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Man ate slug after being dared to by his mates and it ended in an absolute tragedy

Home> Community> Viral

Published 18:24 12 Feb 2024 GMT

Man ate slug after being dared to by his mates and it ended in an absolute tragedy

Getting dared to do foolish things is a part of being young, but sometimes these risky acts could change a person's life forever.

Dylan Murray

Dylan Murray

An Australian man who ate a slug on a dare tragically passed away after the silly joke turned into a tragedy.

Daring your friends to do foolish and dangerous things is a common phenomenon across the world, especially when you’re young.

With many young people loving to live on the edge and try daring things to entertain themselves and their friends, it’s not surprising that so many have done some irresponsible things purely because they were told to by one of their mates.

However, these dares can sometimes have disastrous consequences, even if the act itself may seem relatively harmless at first glance.

This was the case for Sam Ballard who, when he was 19 years old in 2010, ate a slug after being dared to do so by some friends in Australia.

Advert

“We were sitting, having a bit of a red wine appreciation night, trying to act as grown-ups and a slug came crawling across,” noted Sam’s friend Jimmy.

“The conversation came, 'should I eat it?' [and] off Sam went.”

Sam Ballard (center) participating in a bike race. Credit TheProjectTV
Sam Ballard (center) participating in a bike race. Credit TheProjectTV

While the best-case scenario when eating a small creature under these circumstances would’ve been a slight stomach ache and a teachable moment, the result of Ballard’s actions ended tragically for the young Australian.

Advert

Sam would find out the hard way that the slug he ate was infected with a parasite known as rat lungworm, which caused him to suffer from severe weakness and pain throughout his legs.

The parasite eventually caused the 19-year-old to contract a strand of meningitis known as eosinophilic meningoencephalitis, a severe but treatable disease that further worsened his condition. Because of this, Ballard fell into a 420-day coma, and his young life was never the same again.

Sam Ballard with his friend Jimmy.
TheProjectTV

When he finally awoke, he learned that the parasite had caused an infection that spread to his brain, resulting in severe paralysis and an inability to eat without assistance. Ballard required 24-hour care and lived his life in a wheelchair until his unfortunate passing in 2018 at the young age of 29.

Advert

Throughout the eight years following his coma, Sam’s mother, Katie Ballard, took care of him every day, noting in an interview with the Daily Telegraph in Australia that things like using the bathroom became very difficult for someone in his condition. Ultimately, however, she didn’t blame his friends for the dare, as she deemed their encouragement to do the peculiar act as merely a side effect of being friends with someone.

Sam passed with his friends and family by his side, with his last words to his mom being 'I love you' shortly before his death.

Featured Image Credit: Family handout/Richard Newstead

Topics: Animals, Australia, Health, News

Dylan Murray
Dylan Murray

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

11 hours ago
2 days ago
3 days ago
  • 11 hours ago

    Mom, 33, issues warning after noticing ‘mosquito bite’ that turned out to be much more sinister

    It's that time of year when mosquitoes are rife, and many of us also spend more time in the sun, so one mom is trying to raise awareness

    Community
  • 11 hours ago

    Chilling past of man who won $167,300,000 lottery jackpot as he's arrested days after claiming prize

    James Shannon Farthing won a life-changing amount of money in April this year

    Community
  • 2 days ago

    7-Eleven employee, 24, who was left brain-dead after manager ‘sat on her’ has died

    Jessica McLaughlin died as her life support was switched off on Wednesday

    Community
  • 3 days ago

    YouTuber legally dies in order to get $50 refund from airline and explains how he did it

    He went through all the stress of 'dying' for the sake of getting back just 50 bucks

    Community
  • Man paralyzed after blowing his nose predicted it would happen
  • Man dies after being bitten by venomous spider hiding in restaurant chair
  • Man who only ate potatoes for an entire year reveals the biggest lessons he’s learnt from it
  • Man who ate 100 tablespoons of butter over ten days reveals what it did to his body