Australian man who ate slug dies after eight-year paralysis
Sam Ballard, 29, contracted devastating infection after eating a slug as a dare

An Australian man who ate a slug as a dare has died, after spending eight years paralysed by a rare infection.
Sam Ballard, 29, passed away on 2 November at Hornsby Hospital in Sydney, “surrounded by a room full of love”, according to an obituary in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Once a keen rugby player, Ballard’s life changed forever in 2010, when he decided to eat a garden slug as a dare during a party at a friend’s house.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
His friend Jimmy Galvin told Australian current affairs show The Project how the fateful moment came about.
“We were sitting over here having a bit of a red wine appreciation night, trying to act as grown ups and a slug came crawling across here,” he said.
“The conversation came up, you know, ‘Should I eat it?’ And off Sam went. Bang. That’s how it happened.”
The friends thought little of the prank at the time. However, over the following days Ballard began to feel unwell and complain of severe leg pain.
Initially, Ballard “worried he might have developed multiple sclerosis, like his father”, the Herald Sun reports, but doctors were able to rule out the disease.
Instead, he was diagnosed with eosinophilic meningoencephalitis contracted as a result of rat lungworm. As its name suggests, the parasite is usually carried by rodents, but can also be transmitted to slugs and snails who consume infected rat faeces.
While most people recover from the infection, Ballard slipped into a coma. When he finally regained consciousness 420 days later, he had suffered brain damage which left him paralysed from the waist down.
For the next seven years, Ballard “was unable to eat for himself and needed help going to the bathroom”, says Sky News.
Although he was unable to speak, “when his friends visited, they said his face lit up and he was very much ‘still there’”, News.com.au reports.
In their obituary, Ballard’s family described him as “a true battler” whose difficult final years had been brightened by “an army of friends and family”.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
5 hilariously sparse cartoons about further DOGE cuts
Cartoons Artists take on free audits, report cards, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Following the Tea Horse Road in China
The Week Recommends This network of roads and trails served as vital trading routes
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: March 30, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
By Abby Wilson Published
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarray
In the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?
The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Why Serbian protesters set off smoke bombs in parliament
THE EXPLAINER Ongoing anti-corruption protests erupted into full view this week as Serbian protesters threw the country's legislature into chaos
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Who is the Hat Man? 'Shadow people' and sleep paralysis
In Depth 'Sleep demons' have plagued our dreams throughout the centuries, but the explanation could be medical
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Aussie beach cabana drama
Row over using tents to reserve a spot on the sand has even drawn in the prime minister
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Why Assad fell so fast
The Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
By The Week UK Published
-
Romania's election rerun
The Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published