The parents of a former Missouri frat boy have said he is ‘alive for a reason’ after he suffered a horrific hazing incident which left him blind and unable to speak or walk.
Danny Santulli was forced to drink so much alcohol during a Phi Gamma Delta fraternity event in October 2021 that he was left with permanent brain damage.
Three years later, his father, Tom Santulli, said the family is ‘on a mission’ to ensure the students responsible face serious charges.
‘I do personally want to see specific kids get felonies,’ Santulli told Fox News Digital. ‘That’s going to wake them up. A misdemeanor is not going to wake them up.’
‘I think Danny’s alive… because other kids were not as fortunate when there was a hazing incident,’ he added. ‘He’s alive for a reason.’
Danny Santulli is now blind, unable to talk and in a wheelchair as a result of the brain damage he suffered on a brutal night of hazing last October
Before: Danny is shown in 2020 before the hazing incident left him permanently disabled
Santulli added that he’s made himself watch the harrowing surveillance footage of his then 18-year-old son falling unconscious at the ‘Pledge Dad Reveal Night’.
‘People say, “Are you sure you want to see it?” Yes, I want to see what happened to my son,’ he explained.
‘I do want to see the abuse. I want to see exactly what happened. And yes, I was blown away. But then again, I said, ‘I’m glad [I saw it].’
Danny was forced to drink an entire 1.75 bottle of Tito’s vodka and beer hours before, and he stopped breathing long enough to cause severe brain damage.
The footage also shows Danny in a line of shirtless, blindfolded freshman being led down a staircase in the frat house.
His mother, Mary Pat, described Danny’s final interactions with the family in the days before the fateful evening of October 19, 2021.
‘Prior to the incident, he was very sleep-deprived,’ she said. ‘[The fraternity was] draining his account… He was very drained…
‘At that point, I talked to him and said, “Danny, you don’t have to go through this. You can quit. You have to do what’s best for you.”
‘He was… quiet about it. And then two days later, this happened… I just couldn’t believe what took place that night.’
Danny is shown on the night in October 2021 with a bottle of Tito’s in his hand
Danny is shown slumped half-off of the couch inside the frat house after passing out
Danny Santulli is shown above being carried to a car to be driven to the hospital on October 20 after a brutal night of hazing at his University of Missouri fraternity
She urged parents to keep in touch with their children as they head to college, and research any sororities and fraternities they become involved with.
‘This is real, [this] is happening [to other students],’ she told Fox News Digital.
‘It will continue if fraternities and sororities are still going on. People need to be educated and we need to talk to our kids. We need to let them know what’s going on.
Danny Santulli was left disabled by a brutal fraternity hazing incident in October 2021
‘[Parents] need to do their research and find out if any of these sororities or fraternities have had past violations, what the record is.’
The horrific footage from October 2021 shows the moment Danny’s frat brothers realized he was seriously ill before carrying him to a car to get him to the hospital.
By the time he got there, he had stopped breathing for long enough to cause severe brain damage. Authorities said his blood alcohol content was 0.486, six times the legal limit.
Danny now lives at home with his parents and requires round the clock care. His family estimates his medical bills are in excess of $2 million.
Ryan P Delanty, who was Santulli’s ‘pledge dad’ on the night of the incident, was sentenced to six months in jail in May after pleading guilty to supplying liquor to a minor and misdemeanor hazing.
The sentence was part of a plea agreement, and Delanty will also undergo six months of house arrest.
Santulli now requires round the clock care which his family say has cost them around $2 million
Ryan P. Delanty is facing six months in jail over the October 2021 incident after pleading guilty to hazing
Samuel Gandhi (left) and Alec Wetzler (right) were also been named as defendants now by the family of Danny Santulli, a teenager whose family say was forced to drink until his heart stopped last October during pledge month at Phi Gamma Delta. Both pleaded guilty in 2023
Hazing is a class A misdemeanor in Missouri, unless the act creates a substantial risk to the life of the student or prospective member, in which case it is a class C felony.
Another fraternity member, Thomas Shultz of Chesterfield, Missouri, pleaded guilty in April 2023 to supplying liquor to a minor.
He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, two years of probation, and was ordered to perform community service and complete a drug and alcohol education program.
Samuel Gandhi and Alec Wetzler also pleaded guilty in 2023 to supplying liquor to a minor.
The fraternity chapter has since been shut down. Santulli’s relatives filed a civil lawsuit against the fraternity and 23 members, which was settled for an unspecified amount in 2022.
