The parents of a former Missouri fraternity member said he is “alive for a reason” after a horrific hazing incident that 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 suffered permanent brain damage.
Three years later, her father, Tom Santulli, said the family is “on a mission” to ensure the students responsible face serious charges.
“Personally, I want to see some kids get felony charges,” Santulli told Fox News Digital. “That’s going to wake them up. A misdemeanor isn’t going to wake them up.”
“I think Danny is alive… because other kids weren’t so lucky when there was a hazing incident,” he added. “He’s alive for a reason.”
Danny Santulli is now blind, speechless and wheelchair-bound as a result of the brain damage he suffered in a brutal hazing night last October.
Before: Danny appears in 2020 before the hazing incident left him permanently disabled.
Santulli added that she forced herself to watch the harrowing surveillance footage of her then-18-year-old son falling unconscious on “Daddy’s Engagement Reveal Night.”
“People say, ‘Are you sure you want to see him?’ Yes, I want to see what happened to my son,” she explained.
“I want to see the abuse. I want to see exactly what happened. And yes, I was shocked. But then I said, ‘I’m glad (I saw it).'”
Danny was forced to drink an entire 1.75 litre bottle of vodka and Tito’s beer hours earlier, and stopped breathing long enough to suffer severe brain damage.
The footage also shows Danny in a line of shirtless and blindfolded freshmen as they are led down a staircase at the fraternity house.
His mother, Mary Pat, described Danny’s final interactions with family in the days leading up to the fateful night of October 19, 2021.
“Before the incident, I was very sleep deprived,” he said. “(The fraternity) was draining their account… I was very exhausted…”
‘At that point I spoke 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 didn’t say anything about it. And two days later, this happened… I couldn’t believe what happened that night.”
Danny appears on the night of October 2021 with a bottle of Tito’s in his hand.
Danny is shown slumped on the couch inside the frat house after passing out.
Danny Santulli is shown above being carried into a car to be taken to the hospital on Oct. 20 after a brutal night of hazing at his University of Missouri fraternity.
He urged parents to stay in touch with their children as they head off to college and to research the fraternities and sororities they are involved in.
“This is real, (this) is happening (to other students),” he told Fox News Digital.
‘This will continue if fraternities and sororities continue. People need education and we need to talk to our children. We need to let them know what’s going on.
Danny Santulli was left disabled after a brutal hazing incident at a fraternity in October 2021
‘(Parents) should do their research and find out if any of these sororities or fraternities have committed violations in the past and what their history is.’
Horrifying footage from October 2021 shows the moment Danny’s fraternity brothers realised he was seriously ill before loading him into a car to take him to hospital.
By the time he arrived at the scene, he had stopped breathing long enough to suffer severe brain damage. Authorities said his blood alcohol level was 0.486, six times the legal limit.
Danny now lives at his parents’ home and requires 24-hour care. His family estimates his medical bills are more than $2 million.
Ryan P Delanty, who was Santulli’s “promising father” on the night of the incident, was sentenced to six months in jail in May after pleading guilty to furnishing alcohol to a minor and misdemeanor hazing.
The sentence was part of a plea deal, and Delanty will also serve six months of house arrest.
Santulli now requires round-the-clock care, which his family says has cost them around $2 million.
Ryan P. Delanty faces six months in jail for the October 2021 incident after pleading guilty to hazing.
Samuel Gandhi (left) and Alec Wetzler (right) were also named as defendants by the family of Danny Santulli, a teenager whose family says he was forced to drink until his heart stopped last October during Phi Gamma Delta’s induction month. 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 furnishing liquor to a minor.
He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, two years of probation and ordered to perform community service and complete a drug and alcohol education program.
Samuel Gandhi and Alec Wetzler also pleaded guilty in 2023 to furnishing liquor to a minor.
The fraternity 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.