Doing daft things with your mates is part of growing up but unfortunately for one teen, his life completely changed after one spur-of-the-moment dare.
With just about any group of friends, daring your buddy to do something risky is part of well... being friends and for most, they end up being cherished memories, regardless of the outcome.
But for Australian Sam Ballard, this sadly wasn't the case.
Back in 2010, when Sam was just 19 years old, he ate a slug after being dared to by one of his friends.
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Reflecting on the incident, Sam's buddy Jimmy 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, 'Should I eat it?' [and] off Sam went.”
While the best-case scenario when eating a small creature under these circumstances would’ve been a slight stomach ache and a teachable moment, not long after eating the slug, Sam’s central nervous system began to shut down.
As the invertebrate was infected with a parasite known as rat lungworm, the teen contracted a strand of meningitis, known as eosinophilic meningoencephalitis, which is severe but treatable.
Sam suffered an infection in his brain and fell into a coma in hospital for 420 days.
When Sam did awake from the coma he had significant movement limitations, as he was left paralyzed from the neck down, including all his limbs.
All he could do was control his breathing and eyelids, and his mom, Katie Ballard, became his full-time carer.
The Project host Lisa Wilkinson said Sam was 'surrounded by his family and loyal, loving mates' before he passed away aged 28 in November 2018.
Meanwhile, she said his heartbreaking last words to his mom were 'I love you'.
Jimmy has since cautioned against needlessly reckless acts, even when with friends.
He said: "Just take care of your mates. Before you jump off a roof into pool or dare your mate to eat something stupid. It can have the worst consequences - not only on your mate and the rest of your friends, the rest of your life, just take care of each other."
Sam's family, however, have stressed they don't blame his friends for what happened to him, telling the NZ Herald that the boys were 'just being mates'.
Speaking at his funeral, Sam’s brother also had a message for his mourning friends. He said: "We don't want you to feel any guilt about what happened that night.
"Your friendship to Sam was extraordinary."
Topics: Health, News, Australia, World News
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