Necrosis Fasciitis is a very rare flesh eating disease that is potentially deadly. Wil Mahn is a 15 year old from Hartsville, SC who has this disease. He is in very critical condition at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC. His dad, Jay, is posting daily updates on his condition and you can find his journal entries here. Please take the time to read this journal. It was started yesterday and the first journal entry tells the entire story, from the first doctor's visit.

If you believe in a greater power, as I believe in the power of prayer, please exhaust those resources (I'm not trying to turn this into a religious debate!)

Feel free to post comments as this will only continually encourage the family.

I've emailed them to ask if they have a way to accept donations. Stay tuned and I'll provide updated information if anyone is interested.

Thanks

Feel free to post this story on as many forums as you so choose.

I haven't read the blog, but necrotizing fasciitis is one of those bacterial infections where there are two outcomes, severe disfiguration or death, largely predicated on whether it's caught in the first few hours or not. That said, if he's in the hospital, the battle is already over and it's just up to his body to determine whether its going to die or not.

Wow. He was symptomatic for nearly a week and didn't die. That in itself is remarkable.

Yeah, it's remarkable he's even alive at this point. I'm not sure what his chances are to actually survive at this point but I can't imagine he'll have much function left in his upper body.

Sad and shocking. I hope Wil manages to survive in some positive capacity. It seems amazing that he made it this long.

It's amazing how the bacteria is just doing its job, at the expense of Wil's life. Every living organism just wants to live, no matter what the cost.