On Wednesday (June 8), the New York Post reported that a student from the University of Missouri can no longer walk or see after attending a hazing event.
The family’s attorney David Bianchi told the Columbia Tribune that 19-year-old Daniel Santulli “has massive brain damage. He’s blind. He’s unable to walk or communicate.” The young man was reportedly forced to drink a bottle of vodka before suffering from a serious brain injury.
He is now home in Minnesota under the care of his parents.
Santulli was found in a vehicle at University Hospital on Oct. 20. His blood-alcohol content was said to be over six times the legal driving limit. Emergency personnel admitted him, then hooked the 19-year-old up to a ventilator.
The incident allegedly took place at the Phi Gamma Delta house. Santulli was pledging to become a member of the fraternity known as Fiji.
On Monday (June 6), Bianchi filed a court motion to add two more frat brothers named Samuel Gandhi and Alec Wetzler to a previous lawsuit including 22 other defendants.
The complaint claims that Wetzler made Santulli drink large amounts of alcohol by using a tube that went into the victim’s mouth. It says beer was also poured down his throat.
“We didn’t know about them when we filed the original lawsuit,” the family’s attorney said.
Sources noted that Judge Joshua Devine approved the petition.
“At 12:28 a.m., Danny slid partly off of the couch and ended up with his face on the floor but he had no voluntary control of his arms or legs and remained there until someone passing through the room saw him and put him back on the couch,” an excerpt from the petition reads.
It continued, “His skin was pale and his lips were blue, yet no one called 911.”
Reports add that at the “pledge father reveal party,” a frat brother texted another member, “My son is dead.”
Since the incident, the Missouri chapter of Phi Gamma Delta has been suspended by the national fraternity and university.
Ron Caudill (the fraternity’s national executive director) gave a statement in February that said, “Our thoughts and prayers are with Danny and the Santulli family during this difficult time.”