Callum Jones
An Australian man who died years after he was left paralyzed from eating a slug had the most heartbreaking final words.
Back in 2010, at the age of 19, Sam Ballard's life changed forever after his pals challenged him to eat a slug.
Jimmy Galvin, one of Ballard friends, witnessed Sam consume the creature.
Recalling the moment, Jimmy told The Project: "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.
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"The conversation came up, 'should I eat it?' [and] off Sam went. Bang. That's how it happened."
After Sam had eaten the slug he discovered that the invertebrate was infected with a parasite known as rat lungworm.
This ultimately led to Sam suffering from severe weakness and pain covering the whole extent of his legs.
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The Australian man then contracted a strand of meningitis known as eosinophilic meningoencephalitis.
While this form of the disease is treatable, it can be very serious and ultimately caused a lot of destruction for Sam.
He went into a 420-day coma, and when he woke up he was severely disabled. The parasite had caused an infection that had spread to his brain, leaving Sam paralysed and only being able to control his breathing and eyelids.
Katie Ballard became a full-time carer for her sick son, giving him round-the-clock care.
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However, Sam, who was a keen rugby player prior to the ordeal, died after many years of medical issues.
The Project host Lisa Wilkinson said Sam was 'surrounded by his family and loyal, loving mates' before he passed away aged 29 in November 2018.
Meanwhile, she said Sam's last words to his mom were 'I love you'.
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Katie has never blamed Sam's friends for what happened to him.
She told the NZ Herald: "[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."
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She added the boys were 'just being mates'.
At Sam's funeral in 2018, his brother Joshua told his friends: "We don't want you to feel any guilt about what happened that night.
"Your friendship to Sam was extraordinary."