Footage shows frat hazing that left pledge paralyzed

(NewsNation) — Last fall, Danny Santulli was a young, healthy college freshman pledging to the University of Missouri’s Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity.

That life as he knew it came to an end after a night of hazing and heavy drinking. Santulli now requires a wheelchair, the victim of severe brain damage that occurred after his attorney says his Phi Gamma Delta brothers forced him to drink an entire bottle of vodka as a hazing ritual. Santulli is now blind and cannot walk or speak. His doctors say there are slim hopes for recovery.

Newly released surveillance footage shows how the night unfolded. It starts just before 9:30 p.m. when the pledges, blindfolded, march down the steps of the frat house while their brothers egg them on, drinks in hand.

A half-hour later, the video shows the pledges walking through the house with red tape holding bottles of liquor to their hands.

An hour after that, at a party in the common area, Santulli, wearing a black sweatshirt in the video, sways and falls to the floor. Several of the frat brothers pick him up and take him to a couch, where he remains for the next hour and a half.

All alone, Santulli can be seen slumping and falling to the floor. His attorney says he was in full cardiac arrest, his blood-alcohol level six times the legal limit. Doctors at the hospital used a ventilator to save his life, but the damage was done.

Santulli’s family has filed a lawsuit against 23 people, and more names are being added. Mizzou has kicked the fraternity off campus and is said to be in contact with Santulli’s parents. The family’s attorney says no felony charges have been brought against the fraternity or its members. The national director of Phi Gamma Delta says the current lawsuit is under review.

However, the family says no felony charges or civil suit monetary settlements can ever bring Danny back.

One final note: Since 2017, Phi Gamma Delta has been held responsible for six other hazing- and alcohol-related violations.