In 2010, Sam Ballard, an avid rugby player, was drinking with Jimmy Galvin and several of his other Australian friends when a slug began crawling across Galvin’s concrete patio at his home in Sydney. Then the conversation came up, “Should I eat it?” So, Sam grabbed the slimy creature and gulped it down. The 19-year-old had no idea that the slug carried a potentially deadly worm that would put him into a coma that lasted more than a year, paralyzing his body and ultimately taking his life. After downing the slug, Sam became weak and complained of pain in his legs. His mother, Katie Ballard, said she worried that he may have multiple sclerosis, which had afflicted her husband. Doctors, however, said Sam had developed rat lungworm disease from the infected slug, changing his life forever. As the name suggests, the parasite lodges in the lungs of rats and is later excreted in feces. Along comes a slug, snail, freshwater crab, shrimp, prawn or frog, and either eats the rat dung or the parasite works its way into the creature, infecting it. Fish, however, do not spread the parasite. Humans can be infected if they eat the raw or under-cooked contaminated animals, or vegetables carrying unseen snails or slugs that haven't been thoroughly washed. Most cases of rat lungworm disease are typically mild, but in some cases — like Sam’s — the disease can cause catastrophic damage. Soon after the diagnosis, Sam fell into a coma, where he remained for 420 days. He ultimately passed away on Friday, November 9, 2018, some 8 years after making the worst decision of his life.
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| Katie and Sam Ballard |
