Cedric Pabriga 
Longtime pro fighting game player Martin “Marn” Phan is fighting for his life in a Vietnamese hospital, and many of the scene’s biggest names have got his back.
Marn is a staple of the fighting game scene, competing in a variety of titles in his 20-year career including Street Fighter, Marvel vs Capcom, and Guilty Gear. His most notable claim to fame is being an Evo champion, taking the Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars championship in 2010.
However, he’s currently in a very difficult spot. As revealed by Sherry “Sherryjenix” Nhan in a Twitter post, that Marn is currently hospitalized for a serious infection.
What happened to Marn?
Marn is recovering from a life-threatening illness called melioidosis and has been hospitalized for days as a result.
He was put in a medically induced coma and has been on a ventilator for days to help recover from the illness. According to Sherryjenix, doctors also found a number of underlying conditions including kidney disease. Complicating matters, Marn is said to have been laid off from his job last year, resulting in him losing health insurance and accruing a large hospital bill because of the intensive treatment.
To help Marn recover financially after recovering physically, a GoFundMe was set up to help pay for his hospital bills.
Melioidosis is a bacterial infection that is caused by exposure to contaminated water. While people typically don’t typically suffer any serious health repercussions from exposure, some cases can be very serious, which has proven to be the case with Marn.
Justin Wong and MenaRD rally for Marn
Numerous iconic fighting game players have rallied behind Marn.
Justin “JWong” Wong urged his followers to donate to the GoFundMe for Marn’s family to be able to cover the hospital bills. Saul Leonardo “MenaRD” Mena II, on the other hand, shared a few sentimental sentences and asked his followers to pray for Marn. A number of other names from past and present including Joe “LI Joe” Ciaramelli, Lee “Infiltration” Seon-woo, and Lin “Oil King” Li-wei encouraged fans to donate.
The goal $20,000 goal was reached within five hours. According to Sherryjenix, any money past the goal will be used to cover other costs associated with recovering from both melioidosis and other health issues that were discovered during his treatment.
