A BRITISH teenager tragically died in Malaysia after collapsing on a plane on his first trip abroad.
Ray Williams, 18, fell seriously ill with an infection during a trip to Asia to train in mixed martial arts, as tributes began pouring in for the “incredible young man”.
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The teenager reportedly contracted staph – a skin infection better known as staph – after developing his MMA skills at a gym in Thailand.
Staph infections are commonly caused by bacteria that penetrate the skin through skin-to-skin contact.
It is sometimes common for MMA fighters to suffer staph infections due to the intense fighting they regularly do, as well as sharing mats and equipment.
After noticing the infection, Ray was given pills and told to rest and recover until the infection cleared.
As the 18-year-old returned home to Bristol, his condition quickly worsened when he collapsed during a layover flight in Malaysia.
He was admitted to intensive care and placed in a medically induced coma, Bristol live reports.
Just days after being rushed to the hospital, Ray was pronounced dead on Wednesday.
Doctors said the blood infection caused severe damage to the heart, lungs, kidneys and liver.
At home in Bristol, people were hit hard by the tragic news.
Ray’s trainer and owner of the Trojan Free Fighters, where he was a regular, said, “No words can explain the pain I feel right now.”
Mario Saeed told BBC “there wasn’t a person who wasn’t crying” in the gym when Ray’s death was announced.
He also told Bristol Live: “Ray was a young man with his whole life ahead of him. He was an amazing young man, helped raise money for cancer and was loved by everyone.
“He’s my brother. If he wasn’t at school he was with me, if he wasn’t at home he was with me, if he wasn’t with me he was sleeping. I don’t understand why his life was taken so young.”
Another person who trained with Ray said: “He was family, it was a pleasure for the limited time I got to know him and train.”
A third devastated friend added: “So sad, such a good young man was taken away at such a young age.”
To honor Ray, the Trojan gym and martial arts community in Bristol have already raised more than £13,300 to pay for the teenager’s family to travel to Malaysia and say goodbye.
It turns out that another MMA fighter was stricken with a serious staph infection that left him fighting to prevent his leg from being amputated.
Australian Tim Schultz contracted the infection while training in Thailand and it spread from his foot to his knee last year.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
