You may have come across his shocking story at some point in your life. Before we dive into the simulation, let me walk you through the details of that night.
They were enjoying some drinks when they noticed a slimy creature crawling in front of them. That’s when the dare came up.
Reflecting on that fateful evening, Ballard’s friend Jimmy Galvin shared with The Project: “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.”
At that moment, no one realized just how dangerous that one garden slug could be for the talented rugby player.
Unfortunately, what Ballard would later learn was that the slug carried a parasite called rat lungworm.
It ultimately caused him to contract a type of meningitis known as eosinophilic meningoencephalitis.
Sam ended up in a coma for 420 days, and the impact of that single dare on his life was beyond repair.
When he finally woke up, he was no longer a teenager. He found out about the horrific effects the parasite had on his body.
He lost the ability to eat without help, which drastically changed his life.
The simulation goes into detail about how Ballard contracted the parasite from the slug.
This is what caused him to fall into that lengthy coma, which ultimately left him with significant brain damage.
Sadly, Ballard needed round-the-clock care from his mother and spent his life in a wheelchair until he passed away in November 2018 at the age of 29.
During his funeral in 2018, his brother Joshua addressed Sam’s friends directly, saying, “We don’t want you to feel any guilt about what happened that night.”
He went on to add, “Your friendship to Sam was extraordinary.”