Hopefully the simulation will warn others
YouTuber Zack D. Films has created an educational simulation which shows what happened to a teenager’s brain after being dared to eat a slug.
It is hoped the film will act as a warning to other youngsters about the dangers of some dares and viral challenges.
In 2010, Australian teenager Sam Ballard who was 19 at the time was drinking with his friends when they spotted the slimy creature in front of them.
Jimmy Galvin, a friend of Ballard’s recalled the moment in an interview with The Project.
He said: “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.
“The conversation came up, ‘should I eat it?’ [and] off Sam went. Bang. That’s how it happened.”
Ballard later discovered that the invertebrate was infected with a parasite known as rat lungworm which caused weakness and pain in his legs.
This led him to contract a strand of meningitis known as eosinophilic meningoencephalitis, a severe but treatable condition.
This led to Ballard falling into a coma for 420 days. The parasite had caused an infection that spread to his brain resulting in severe paralysis and an inability to eat without assistance.
The video explains that while the human body is usually able to get rid of parasites itself, the parasite in Ballard’s case had managed to spread its larva into his brain.
Ballard required round the clock care by his mum and was confined to a wheelchair until he passed away in November 2018.
His family didn’t attribute any blame to his friends who were with him on that night. His brother Joshua said at his funeral: “We don’t want you to feel any guilt about what happened that night. Your friendship to Sam was extraordinary.”
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