A young Brooklyn College student, Kerry Stoutenburgh, 19, has passed away after succumbing to a dangerous and rare brain-eating amoeba. Stoutenburgh was vacationing with her family in Maryland when she contracted the disease while swimming in a creek.

The youngster, who resided in Kingston in New York, is reported to have dived into a body of warm water from a bridge in Cecil County. Health officials who treated Stoutenburgh said she came into contact and contracted the deadly parasite while swimming in the Conowingo Creek and Gilpins Falls, the New York Post reported.

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The amoeba that Stoutenburgh came into contact with has been identified as Naegleria fowleri. The parasite is reported to be found in warm freshwater springs and lakes. The amoeba usually enters the system when the contaminated water enters the body through the nostrils, thereby traveling to the brain.

Once infected, Stoutenburgh contracted a condition called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. To support the growing medical bills of the family, a GoFundMe page was set up. "Kerry was a beautiful soul both inside and out. She was taken from this world way too soon, but her memories will stay with us forever," her GoFundMe page reads. 

The page revealed that Stoutenburgh was the first individual in New York and the state of Maryland to die after contracting the deadly parasite. Stoutenburgh, a college sophomore, was a college swimmer and majored in film.

Stoutenburgh was hospitalized four days before she passed away from symptoms of vomiting and severe headaches, NBC New York reported. Despite being treated and eventually discharged from the hospital, her condition worsened and ultimately led to her death.