Ben Whiteside from Co. Down has been travelling Laos with his girlfriend when he fell ill. Visiting the hospital it quickly became apparent that they were unable to deal with his serious condition. The graduate had contracted necrotising fasciitis, a deadly flesh eating bacteria that can claim a life within a matter of days if untreated. [caption id="attachment_267892" align="alignnone" width="620"] The graze through which the infection entered[/caption] Ben was airlifted to Bangkok hospital where he will remain until the infection is cleared from his body. He will then be transferred to London where he will complete treatment. The young couple have funded the medical treatment on credit cards but girlfriend Anneka Shally set up a gofundme page to help with the costs. 75% of the target has been reached. Anneka writes; “As this was a life or death situation - not airlifting Ben to Bangkok to have the treatment due to the expense was simply out of the question. [caption id="attachment_267891" align="alignnone" width="648"] Receiving treatment[/caption] The treatment has so far all been paid for on credit, so I have started this campaign in the hopes of relieving Ben and his family from some of the financial burden that this situation has inflicted on them, and to avoid the already significant cost skyrocketing more due to interest rates”. The GoFundMe page can be found HERE.