A BRITISH teenager has tragically died in Malaysia after collapsing on a plane in his first trip abroad.
Ray Williams, 18, fell seriously ill with an infection during a trip to Asia to train mixed martial arts as tributes begin to flood in for the “amazing young man”.
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The teenager reportedly contracted staphylococcus – a skin infection better known as staph – after developing his MMA skills in a gym in Thailand.
Staph infections are commonly caused by bacteria breaching the skin through skin-to-skin contact.
MMA fighters are prone to the illness due to the close contact during training sessions and the sharing of the mats and equipment which can often carry infected particles.
After noticing the infection, Ray was given tablets and told to rest and recover until the infection healed.
As the 18-year-old made his way back home to Bristol his condition rapidly worsened as he collapsed on a layover flight in Malaysia.
He was admitted into intensive care and put into an induced coma, Bristol Live reports.
Just days after being rushed to hospital Ray was pronounced dead on Wednesday.
Doctors said the blood infection caused severe damage to his heart, lungs, kidneys and liver.
Back home in Bristol people have been hit hard by the tragic news.
Ray’s coach and owner of Trojan Free Fighters where he was a regular said: “No words can explain the pain I feel right now.”
Mario Saeed told the BBC there was “not one 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, he helped raise money for cancer and was loved by all.
“He is 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 then he was asleep. I don’t understand why his life was taken so young.”
Another person who had trained with Ray said: “He was family, pleasure for the limited time I met him and trained.”
A third devastated pal added: “So sad, was such a nice young man taken so young.”
To honour Ray, the Trojan gym and wider martial arts community in Bristol have already raised over £13,300 to pay for the teen’s family to fly out to Malaysia and say their goodbyes.
