Death of Sam Ballard: Slugger-eating rugby player turned quadriplegic after dying bruised dies at the age of 28

A man who became paralyzed after eating a slug at the age of 19 died.

Sam Ballard died at the age of 28, shortly after telling his mother, "I love you".

Ballard died last Friday, revealed Lisa Wilkinson, a presenter of the Australian television show The Sunday Project.

"We have sad news for you now," she said.

Earlier this year, we told you the story of Sam Ballard, who, to the surprise of his classmates, had eaten a slug and had a devastating rat lung disease.

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

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

Ballard ingested the poisonous mollusk at a party with friends in Sydney in 2010 after accepting a challenge.

His friend Jimmy Galvin later explained: "We were sitting, having a red wine appreciation night, trying to act like big guys and a slug went through.

"The conversation has begun," Should I eat it? "Off Sam is gone." Bang. "That's how it happened."

Sam was rushed to the hospital, where doctors told him that he had been infected with rat lungworm.

Although the disease is usually found in rodents, snails and slugs can be infected as they often eat faeces from rats.

The excrement contains a parasite called Angiostrongylus cantonensis.

He spent 420 days in coma after developing eosinophilic meningoencephalitis.

When Sam woke up, he discovered that he had become tetraplegic.

The parasite caused an infection of the brain.

Sam's mother, Kate, has always been hopeful that her son would walk and talk again.

But she was resigned to the fact that he would never be the same again.

She said: "It's devastated, changed her life forever, my life forever.It's huge.The impact is huge."

Sam came out of the hospital three years after falling ill and was able to move around in a motorized wheelchair.

His friends raised money for the 24-hour care Sam needed. Among his other problems, there was the inability to control his body temperature. He needed to be force-fed.

In 2016, Sam's $ 492,000 disability benefit was reduced to $ 135,000, leaving the family with a debt.