An 18-year-old died Sunday from an infection he contracted as a result of a tongue piercing.

The teenager, an IDF soldier, was hospitalized in serious condition over a month ago after developing 14 abscesses in his brain resulting from the spread of bacteria introduced through the piercing.

Dr. Yaron Bar-Lavi, the manager of the emergency room in Haifa's Rambam Hospital, said the teen was put on medications to combat spasms caused by the abscesses, but that the medication had a detrimental affect on his liver, which ultimately caused his decline and death.

Dr. Bar-Lavi said the abscesses, some of which made their way to the central portion of the brain, were the largest he had ever seen.