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FAYETTEVILLE – A Fayetteville teen is recovering from a rare infection he may have picked up at Hope Mills Lake.

Doctors had to remove part of Matthew McKinney’s nose and the roof of his mouth to stop the potentially deadly infection from spreading further.

The infection was caused by bacteria called chromobacterium violaceum.

McKinney’s father said his son doesn’t know that doctors removed part of his face.

“He doesn’t know. He has no idea. He’s going to wake up, half his face is going to be gone,” Brian McKinney said.

It all began after June 14, when Matthew McKinney went swimming with friends at Hope Mills Lake.

Dr. Tom Belhorn said he is now in an induced coma. Although the infection may have been caught at the lake, it’s no cause for panic.

“It is found in the bottom of lakes, ponds throughout the southeast, so it is very common as far as bacteria, it’s just that it is very rare to cause infections in humans,” Belhorn said.

Brian McKinney said his son has had a lot of pain.

“It’s been terrible watching him suffer through all the swelling and the teeth falling out and the pain, excruciating pain,” he said.

But he said his son remained light-hearted, cracking jokes with nurses.

Brian McKinney predicts it will be difficult when his son wakes up to find a piece of his face gone, but he’ll be by his son’s side the way he has been all through the last week.

“I want to be by his side when he wakes up to tell him we’re happy he’s still alive,” he said.

Matthew McKinney is still in serious condition, but his doctor said antibiotics are beginning to help.