RALEIGH, N.C. — The mother of a central North Carolina teenager infected with a rare brain-eating amoeba is sharing the family’s story on a GoFundMe page to help with their medical and related expenses.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday that a teen was infected by Naegleria fowleri, an amoeba found in freshwater that destroys brain tissue, The Charlotte Observer reported. NCDHHS did not name the teen but said he was critically ill.

Four days earlier on Aug. 23, Monica Mendoza started a GoFundMe, writing in Spanish that she is the mother of Moises Ponce Mendoza, who is fighting for his life in UNC Hospitals.

Moises started feeling severe headaches the night of Aug. 21, Mendoza wrote. She took him to a hospital in the Alamance County town of Burlington, where a doctor examined him and said the two could go home.

But Moises’ health got worse rapidly, Mendoza wrote.

Mendoza left work early Saturday morning and rushed Moises to UNC Hospitals’ emergency room, where he was diagnosed.

“From that moment on, our lives changed completely,” Mendoza wrote. “Moises is in a coma; the doctors are doing everything possible to fight this disease and give him a chance to pull through.”

The GoFundMe asks for $7,500 to help cover medical and other expenses. It had raised over $2,000 as of Friday afternoon.

“As his mother, you can understand what a terrible and frightening situation this is,” Mendoza wrote. “We are going through the most difficult moments of our lives. Medical expenses, transportation, food, and all the necessities required during this emergency have become an enormous burden for us.”

Naegleria fowleri causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only about 10 people in the U.S. die of PAM each year, but the disease is almost always fatal.

NCDHHS and other agencies have yet to identify the source of the teen’s infection, the agency wrote Thursday. Because Naegleria fowleri are most likely to be found in warm freshwater, NCDHHS recommended several precautions to take if doing any activities in freshwater:

— Hold your nose shut or use nose clips if going underwater. Otherwise, keep your head above water.

— Avoid going underwater in hot springs and thermal waters.

— If water temperatures are high and water levels are low, avoid jumping into the water. Naegleria fowleri grows best at 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

— Avoid digging up sediment at the bottom of shallow freshwater bodies. Sediment is where Naegleria fowleri is most likely to be.

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