Community members in South Carolina continue to rally around the family of 12-year-old Jaysen Carr, who died after being infected with an amoeba he contracted at Lake Murray.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - On Saturday, the Midlands community rallied around the family of 12-year-old Jaysen Carr. Carr was a student at Hand Middle School who died after being infected with an amoeba he contracted at Lake Murray earlier this month.

The Naegleria fowleri is a free-living amoeba, which is a one-celled organism that thrives in warm fresh water like lakes, rivers and hot springs, the CDC states. It is usually called the brain-eating amoeba because it can infect and destroy brain tissue. Infections from the amoeba are rare but nearly always fatal.

While Vibrio vulnificus thrives in brackish water, freshwater presents a different but equally rare threat: Naegleria fowleri, a brain-eating amoeba.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Community members continue to rally around the family of 12-year-old Jaysen Carr. Carr — a student at Hand Middle School — died after being infected with an amoeba he contracted at Lake Murray two weeks ago.