Man Dies 8 Years After Swallowing a Live Slug That Left Him Paralyzed
Eating raw or undercooked slugs can lead to infection by a parasitic nematode called Angiostrongylus cantonensis, or rat lungworm.
In 2010, a teenage rugby player in Australia named Sam Ballard accepted an unusual dare at a party: swallow a live garden slug. The experience left him paralyzed and with significant brain damage, and on Friday (Nov. 2), Ballard died in a Sydney hospital at the age of 28.
