A Missouri college student was left blind with what's being called "massive brain damage" after a frat that he was pledging hazed him by making him drink an entire bottle of vodka that was taped to his hands.
Daniel Santulli, 19, of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, was pledging to become a member of Phi Gamma Delta at the University of Missouri in October 2021 when the incident happened, according to a lawsuit, the Associated Press reported.
Frat members allegedly forced him to drink it, calling him slurs if he stopped, the Daily Mail reported. He drank until he passed out and members of the frat allegedly waited before rushing him to a hospital.
After the frat allegedly forced Santulli to consume the liquor, he was later discovered in a car outside of Columbia, Missouri's University Hospital, where he was suffering from cardiac arrest, Fox News reported.
His father, Tom Santulli, shared that he can still remember what it felt like to hear his son had been hospitalized eight months ago.
"[We] thought it was all a dream," Tom Santulli said. "Couldn't believe it was happening. We drove down to Missouri. It was the longest seven and a half hours of my life."
According to the Columbia Missourian, Santulli had a blood-alcohol content of 0.486% and was brought to the hospital by other students when he became non-responsive.
While the lawsuit naming 22 defendants from the frat was settled in April, Santulli was left in a wheelchair, unable to speak or move, according to the family attorney David Bianchi.
"He is doing terribly," Bianchi said to Fox News. "He has massive brain damage. He's blind – he's lost all his eyesight. Can't walk or communicate at all … No recovery from this."
His family is now speaking up against hazing, as Tom Santulli shared with Fox News that dealing with his injuries has "been really hard." He added that his wife has been forced to leave her job to take care of their son, as it's too much to work full time and care for him.
"He has a long road," Tom Santulli said. "We just hope that he somehow gets better."
As for what advice he would give others, Tom Santulli said to "be careful" when your kids go to college and make sure to "do your research" on fraternities to know if they have been on probation like his son's was.
"Tell your kid, don't ever let another kid tell you, you have to drink," Tom Santulli said.
The fraternity that Santulli was pledging had been in trouble, before the incident, for hazing and since then has been suspended indefinitely by the University of Missouri. The university is also investigating the situation and has proposed disciplinary action against 13 students, which remains ongoing.
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