Rugby player, 19, left paralysed and in need of 24/7 care after swallowing a slug as a dare
Strapping Sam Ballard, from Sydney, Australia, was at a boozy party when one of his mates challenged him to eat the garden pest
AN “INVICIBLE” Aussie teenager who swallowed a garden slug as a dare has been left paralysed and needing around-the-clock care.
Strapping rugby player Sam Ballard was at a boozy party when one of his mates challenged him to eat the garden pest.
After swallowing the slug, Sam quickly fell ill and was taken to hospital where he was found to be infected with rat lungworm.
The worm is found in rodents, but snails or slugs can become infected when they eat the faeces of rats.
While most people develop no symptoms at all, very rarely it causes an infection of the brain.
Sam, then 19, contracted eosinophilic meningo-encephalitis and lapsed into a coma for 420 days leaving him a quadriplegic.
Mum Katie Ballard revealed how hard Sam’s illness had hit the family saying: “It’s devastated, changed his life forever, changed my life forever. The impact is huge.”
When Sam was released from a Sydney hospital in a motorised wheelchair three years after becoming ill, his mates rallied around him.
“Team Ballard” raised money for the 24/7 care that he now requires, but it could never be enough.
Now aged 28, Sam suffers seizures and cannot control his body temperature, the reported. He also has to be tube fed.
Before this, Katie thought her son was “invincible” and that nothing could ever happen to him.
Katie applied to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) when Sam became eligible for a £300,000 package in 2016.
But last September without warning, the NDIS texted Ms Ballard to say a review of his plan had slashed his allocation to around £75,000.
The massive funding cut was without explanation and around-the-clock care means the Ballard family are heavily in debt and currently owe a nursing service £25,000.
The NDIS said it had been “working closely with the Ballard family” to find a resolution and increase Sam’s support package.
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