
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.”
When he finally woke up, he was no longer a teenager. He found out about the horrific effects the parasite had on his body.
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.”