The teenager who was left disabled after swallowing a slug has been getting by with support from his family and friends.
Sam Ballard was 19 when he swallowed a slug in a backyard in 2010 after being dared to do so by some friends.
“The conversation came up, ‘Should I eat it?’ Off Sam went. Bang. That’s how it happened.”
“It is caused by a parasitic nematode (roundworm parasite) called Angiostrongylus cantonensis. The adult form of A. cantonensis is only found in rodents. However, infected rodents can pass larvae of the worm in their feces. Snails, slugs, and certain other animals (including freshwater shrimp, land crabs, and frogs) can become infected by ingesting this larvae; these are considered intermediate hosts,” the department stated.
“Humans can become infected with A. cantonensis if they eat (intentionally or otherwise) a raw or undercooked infected intermediate host, thereby ingesting the parasite.”
Most people who develop the lungworm show no symptoms, but in Ballard, it infected his brain. He eventually lapsed into a coma for 420 days and became a quadriplegic.
Before the shocking incident, Ballard was an athletic teen who loved to play rugby.
He’s now unable to move his legs but just lately he’s been able to move his arms and grip things.
“It’s devastated, changed his life forever, changed my life forever,” mother Katie Ballard said. “It’s huge. The impact is huge.”
Friends have stuck by him, but said the incident serves as a warning to people who like to live life on the edge.
“Just take care of your mates,“ Galvin said. ”Before you jump off a roof into a pool or daring your mate to eat something stupid. It can have the worse consequences not only on your mate and the rest of your friends, the rest of your life, just take care of each other.”
