Handout Ray Williams in a blue t-shirt, smiling in a busy street market in Thailand.Handout
Ray Williams was in a coma for five days before his death.
A martial arts loving teenager has died in Malaysia after falling severely ill with an infection.
Ray Williams, 18, from Bristol, travelled to Thailand for his first trip abroad to train in martial arts when he contracted a skin infection, called staphylococcus.
He was treated with tablets and was on his way back to the UK when he collapsed and was admitted into intensive care in Malaysia, where he died on Wednesday.
His coach and owner of Trojan Free Fighters, Mario Saeed, said: “No words can explain the pain I feel right now.”
The Trojan gym, and the martial arts community in Bristol have raised more than £13,300 to pay for Mr Williams’ family to fly to Malaysia.
Mr Saeed told us that there was “not one person who wasn’t crying” when they announced his death in the gym.
Mario Saeed Three men photographed in front of a black wall with lights. One man has his hand lifted up by another.Mario Saeed
Ray Williams (l) trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai since the age of 14, under his coach Mario Saeed (centre)
He added: “Ray was amazing. He was so happy. He will always be with us at Trojan. Trojan is Ray.
“There were more than 100 people there, we are a very strong community together.
“People think our gym is just a gym, it’s not. We are family. We sweat, bleed and cry together everyday. ”
Before he went abroad, Mr Williams was training Brazilian jiu-jitsu six times a week, Muay Thai four times a week and had just taken up mixed martial arts.
Mr Williams’ other coach, Mark McLelland, taught him from the start of his teaching career, four years ago.
Mark McLelland and Mario Saeed standing in front of a stone wall painted black, and a punching bag on the floor
Mark McLelland (l) and Mario Saeed (r) both coached Ray Williams
“Everyone got along with him, he had a strong work ethic. He was pleasure to teach and train with.
“It’s a very hard thing to deal with emotionally. We’re trying to be strong for the team and help out his family,” he said.
The “outpouring” of support from the community has “blown everyone away”, he added.
“Hopefully we can provide some sort of comfort and help to the family with what they have to go through now,” he added.
Skin infections can often affect people who train martial arts.
In many cases, they are treatable, but staphylococcus can also cause serious blood poisoning and toxic shock syndrome, according to the NHS.
