A Sydney man who contracted a disease after swallowing slug for a dare has passed away.
Sam Ballard, from Sydney’s upper north shore, ate the slug after he was dared by friends in 2010.
After a few days symptoms started to appear, and he was later discovered to have contracted rat lungworm – a disease usually found in rodents.
Sam also contracted eosinophilic meningo-encephalitis, which while many people recover from, Sam did not.
After more than a year in a coma, he awoke with a brain injury and last week, eight years after he fell ill, Sam passed away.
He was remembered on The Sunday Project last night, as Lisa Wilkinson broke the news.
Catch up on today's headlines and download the Hit app here: iOS | Android