RALEIGH, N.C.-- A North Carolina teenager fighting a rare flesh-eating bacteria is out of the hospital. 14-year-old Matthew McKinney was hospitalized after swimming in a lake near Raleigh last month. Doctors believe Mckinney picked up the bacteria from the lake. Many find his rare condition disturbing, as the illness ate away part of his nose, mouth and teeth.

Doctors say this case is helping them learn more about the bacteria, and it will help them treat other patients.