Sam Ballard: 5 quick facts to know



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Sam Ballard, Sam Ballard RIP

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In 2010, Sam Bullard, 19, ate a slug on a challenge. He drank with a handful of friends when the slug crawled on his patio. In a video interview last year, friend Jimmy Galvin said, "We were sitting here, spending a little red wine night, trying to play the role of adults. … And then the conversation came up: "Should I eat it? And then Sam left and went away, that 's how it happened.

On Friday, Ballard died at the age of 28 after contracting lungworm disease in rats.

Here's what you need to know.


1. He contracted the lung worm after eating a slug at his friend's house, Jimmy's

Sam Ballard Dare, Sam Ballard Slug, Rat Lungworm Disease

A student from UFR University of Science and Technology Besançon holds a snail in a petri dish during an experiment conducted on October 24, 2018 in Besançon, in eastern France. – Raised behind the imposing yellow doors of the CNRS Chrono-Environnement laboratory of the University of Besançon, the gastropods, once deployed in the field, will feed on the soil and plants, breathe the air and allow researchers to analyze the contamination of various pollutant sites.

In 2010, shortly after graduation, Sam was spending time with his friend Jimmy. He was hanging out in the yard with a group of friends when they saw a snail. The friends then dared to eat the snail, and that is Sam who did it.

Shortly after eating the slug, Sam started to feel sick. He mentioned to his mother and to the doctors that he had eaten a slug earlier. The doctors then determined that Sam had been infected with rat lungworm disease.

According to NSW Health, the disease is often found in slugs and snails after eating rat stool. People may become infected after consuming snails containing larvae of lungworm or after consuming unwashed lettuce contaminated with snails or slugs. The parasite is more common in Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands and Australia. The point of sale writes that the infection is fatal "only occasionally" and rarely causes a brain infection.


2. He was in a coma for 420 days

After being diagnosed with eosinophilic meningoencephalitis, a form of meningitis resulting from the consumption of a contaminated snail, Sam fell into a coma for 420 days.

According to the Independent, on waking he suffered a serious brain injury and became a quadriplegic. Due to complications related to his previous illness, he "needs constant care".

Lisa Wilkinson, who wrote an article about Sam for Ten Daily, wrote: "While the doctors had managed to save him on time, he was now confined to a wheelchair, with limited communication skills, and requiring 24 hours on 24, seven days a week, day by week. Three years after falling ill, he was released from the hospital and received a motorized wheelchair.


3. He died surrounded by loved ones

According to Ten Daily, Sam died Friday morning at Hornsby Hospital. He was surrounded by "20 people of those whom he loved most in the world".

Katie, her mother, told Ten Daily that "the room was so filled with love."

Her mother was also her main caretaker for almost nine years. Wilkinson writes, "Sam's beautiful mom's angel, Katie, has been at her side as the main assistant, without ever faltering in her love; feed him, shoot him, drive him, wash him, arrange him visits to the doctor and to the hospital, always trying to find the clearest moments for her to see her boy smile again, waking up with every sound of the night, always ensuring that Sam's friends felt welcomed in his new limited world. When they came, as they often did, Sam's eyes still lit up. "


4. He was a rugby player

Sam was a promising rugby player growing up.

He was a student at Barker College.

In March of this year, News.com.au published an article describing how Sam fought the government after cutting funding for his hospital care. In 2016, Katie is registered with NDIS (National Disability Insurance Plan) after Sam became eligible for a $ 492,000 package, depending on the point of sale.

In September 2017, without any notice, he was told that the funding would be reduced to $ 135,000. News.com.au writes: "The massive reduction in funding was unexplained and day and night care means that the Ballard family is heavily indebted. They owe $ 42,000 to a nursing service.

When the Daily Telegraph contacted the NDIS, they were told that they were working closely with the Ballard family to find a solution. We do not know what resolution was encountered.


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

According to Lisa Wilkinson, Sam's last words to his mother were: "I love you".

His friend added, "He had his voice and he said" I love you "on several occasions to Katie.

He was 29 years old.

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