We’ve all played a game of dares with our mates that’s got out of hand but obviously it’s important to keep things safe.
And unfortunately, this man’s dare to eat a slug ended in a devastating tragedy.
Look, it’s not particularly surprising that young people do some irresponsible stuff simply because their mates told them to - most of us have been there.
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But despite how relatively harmless they may seem; they can often be pretty dangerous.
Like in the case of Sam Ballard, a 19-year-old who ate a slug back in 2010 after his friends dared him in Australia.
“We were sitting, having a bit of a red wine appreciation night, trying to act as grown-ups and a slug came crawling across,” recalled Sam’s friend Jimmy.
“The conversation came, 'Should I eat it?' [and] off Sam went.”
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Seems like a relatively familiar situation, right? Well, don’t go repeating it.
Now, eating a live little small creature for a dare probably isn’t the wisest decision at the best times. If you’re lucky, you’ll just be left with a bit of a tummy ache and deep regrets.
However, the young Aussie’s slug of choice turned out to be infected with a parasite known as rat lungworm.
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Sam soon suffered from severe weakness and pain throughout his legs before he ended up contracting a strand of meningitis known as eosinophilic meningoencephalitis.
While this is a treatable disease, it’s rather severe and the 19-year-old lad fell into a 420-day coma.
Having his life changed forever, he finally woke up to discover the nasty parasite had sparked an infection to spread to his brain. Tragically, this resulted in severe paralysis with Sam unable to eat without assistance.
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The young lad therefore needed round the clock care and lived out his life in a wheelchair before he sadly died at the age of 28 in 2018.
His mum, Katie, took care of him every day after he came out of his coma, noting that simple things like using the bathroom were very difficult.
But despite the conditions that led to his changed life, she didn’t blame his friends for the dare. Instead, the mum said they were just 'being mates'.
When Sam died his friends and family were at his side, as he said his last words to his mum shortly before: “I love you.”
Jess Battison