A week ago Saturday, Jake Finkbonner bumped his mouth playing basketball. Within 24 hours, his face swelled to more than twice its size.

"What started out as a fat lip just turned into a huge fat head," said Jake's mother Elsa. "His face, his neck at that point he didn't have a chin anymore -- he just had two holes."

Elsa rushed her son to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, but doctors sent him home. They said the swelling was normal after a bump on the face.

A day later, the Ferndale kindergartner was near death and being airlifted to Children's Hospital.

"It's just hell on Earth," Elsa said. "It's been you go from playing basketball on Saturday and then we got here and the doctor's saying 'We're just trying to save your child's life.' "

Doctor's told the Finkbonner's that Jake is having a severe reaction to a common bacteria -- Type-A strep, which is the same thing that causes strep throat.

It's eating away at Jake's flesh, killing the tissue around his mouth and eyes.

"But it's very quick (and) progresses quite rapidly," said Dr. Michael Davis with Children's Hospital.

"He's got the black eyes," Elsa said. "He's removed portion of his upper lip -- it's a gruesome sight for me even as his mom to look at him."

Flesh eating bacterias usually attack the arms and legs. Doctors say cases like Jake's, where the bacteria attack the face, are rare.

The Finkbonner's say their son is a fighter. Still, they're asking for everyone's prayers.

"So many people have been telling us we're praying for you guys and that's all we want," Elsa said. "We just want prayer for our little boy we want him to get to his 7th birthday and the rest of his life."

Fund Established For Jake

The family has set up a fund for Jake. Anyone can make donations to the:

Jacob Finkbonner Fund

At any Wells Fargo branch or any Industrial Credit Union.