An Australian dies eight years after eating a slug to dare

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Sam Ballard, 28, a promising rugby player from Sydney, ate the slug while enjoying some red wines with his friends in 2010.

Then, at 19, he did not immediately fall ill but complained of severe leg pain a few days later.

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He subsequently fell into a coma for 420 days after contracting eosinophilic meningoencephalitis – a strand of meningitis.

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Mr. Ballard spent three years at the hospital. He remained paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair all his life, suffering from epileptic seizures.

Lisa Wilkinson of the Sunday Project, who reported earlier this year on Sam's battle, confirmed the 28-year-old's passage in a brief passage.

"His friends have stayed with him ever since. On Friday, Sam passed away, surrounded by his family and faithful companions of love, "said Mrs. Wilkinson.

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"His last words to his mother:" I love you "."

Prior to the accident, Ballard's mother, Katie, described how she saw her son as "invincible," writing in a Facebook post in 2011, in which she hoped he would walk again.

"Sam is doing really well. He's always the same cheeky Sam and laughs a lot, "she wrote.