Overview
- At 19, the Sydney rugby player ate a slug on a dare in 2010, which reports say exposed him to rat lungworm.
- He developed severe leg pain days later, progressed to a brain infection, and remained in a coma for 420 days.
- After waking, he was paralysed from the neck down, experienced seizures, struggled with temperature regulation, and required tube feeding.
- Australia’s disability insurance initially granted the equivalent of £234,000, then cut it by over 50% in 2017 before reversing the decision following the family’s campaign.
- He died in 2018 at age 28 surrounded by loved ones, and his mother has said she does not blame his friends, describing them as “being mates.”