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A man from Sydney, Australia, who contracted a rare parasite called rat lung worm after eating a slug died.
Sam Ballard consumed the creature of the garden during a challenge in 2010, reports the Australian News.com.au. But the seemingly innocuous farce escalated into a tragedy after contracting encephalitis and sinking into a coma for 420 days. He came out of the test with significant brain damage, but continued to live eight more years.
He died Friday, in Australia The Sunday project reported. He was "surrounded by 20 of those he loved most in the world" The Sunday project Anchor Lisa Wilksion wrote on the 10 Daily News website. Various reports on Ballard's age have been reported, but it is believed that he was 19 years old when he consumed the slug.
The doctors diagnosed Sam with a rat lung worm, an infection that is usually detected in rodents and that can also be transmitted to snails and slugs if they eat rat feces containing parasite larvae.
Most people who contract the rat lung worm do so by eating undercooked or raw snails and recovering without incident, according to the Disease Controls Centers. But in some cases, parasites can cause patients to develop eosinophilic meningitis, which affects the brain and the nervous system.
According to Sam's mother, Katie, the infection had a significant impact on Sam's life, preventing him from eating or living independently.
"It's devastated, changed her life forever, changed my life forever," she wrote on Facebook, according to News.com.au. "The impact is huge."
Sam's condition required 24-hour care, which had initially been funded by a payment of A $ 471,000 (US $ 339,600) from the Australian National Disability Insurance Plan. Their grant had been reduced to just $ 135,000 ($ 97,000) last year, but a campaign of family and friends successfully fought to overturn the decision, News.com reported.
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