University of Missouri student left permanently disabled after pledge party
New video from a University of Missouri fraternity shows the moments leading up to when 19-year-old Daniel Santulli was sent to the hospital with alcohol poisoning and likely left the teen permanently disabled.
Santulli was part of a ritual called “pledge dad reveal night” on Oct. 19, 2021, and pledges of the former Phi Gamma Delta fraternity are seen in the video obtained by ABC walking down the stairs of the fraternity blindfolded.
Daniel Santulli, who was 18 at the time, was pressured by others in the fraternity to drink an entire bottle of vodka, according to a lawsuit settled by the family against 23 defendants. David Bianchi, the attorney representing the Santulli family, said that the family has settled with nearly 23 parties, including the fraternity, and has plans to file complaints against at least two more people.
Just before 11 p.m., the student is seen in the video losing balance and eventually falling backwards and was carried to a sofa, where fraternity members placed him.
Santulli fell off the sofa at 12:30 a.m., and wasn’t put back on the sofa until 15 minutes later, when he was taken out of the fraternity. In the process of carrying him to the door, members of the fraternity dropped him. He was taken to the hospital in a car driven by fraternity members.
Upon arrival at the hospital, according to ABC, Santulli was in cardiac arrest and not breathing, and his blood alcohol level was .46.
He was in the intensive care unit at the University of Missouri Hospital for six weeks, then moved to a rehab hospital in Colorado.
He’s now with his family at their Minnesota home, according to the report, but doctors say he’ll need care for life. The Executive Director of Phi Gamma Delta Rob Caudill said in a statement that Daniel Santulli should have never been put in the situation.
“Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with Danny and the Santulli family. Danny should not have been put in such a situation. The International Fraternity prohibits hazing and the provision of alcohol to minors and expects all members to follow the law and our policies. We support anyone being held accountable for their conduct and the consequences that may result. The International Fraternity acted immediately to stop all activities of the chapter which is now closed,” Caudill said.
Mary Pat Santulli, his mother, said that the teen is not talking or walking.
“He’s still not talking or walking. He’s in a wheelchair. He lost his vision. But he hears us, and he knows we’re there,” she said. “And we’ll just keep fighting, and we’re not gonna give up hope.”
One fraternity member has been charged with two misdemeanors for supplying alcohol to a minor. Nick Santulli, Danny’s brother, said that he saw Danny in the hospital, which is an image he says will never leave his memory.
“I saw Danny in the medical ICU at the hospital at Mizzou. And it’s just — it’s just a bunch of tubes everywhere,” Nick Santulli said. In a statement, a University of Missouri spokesperson said that 13 students have received proposed university sanctions for their involvement in the incident. “Today, the University of Missouri Office of Student Accountability and Support (OSAS) under the Division of Student Affairs took an important step in their investigation of an incident resulting in the alcohol poisoning of an incoming fraternity member during the early hours of Oct. 20, 2021, at the now closed Mizzou chapter of Phi Gamma Delta (also known as Fiji) house. As a result, 13 students have received proposed disciplinary sanctions,” the statement reads.