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Former NBA star Manute Bol died today from Stevens Johnson Syndrome, a very rare skin disorder that makes the skin and mucous membranes react badly to a medication or infection. The syndrome begins with flu-like symptoms, then a painful rash develops and becomes blisters, eventually causing the top layer of your skin to die and shed.

Manute Bol was 47. He rose to fame in the 1980s as one of NBA’s tallest players, playing for the Washington Bullets.

Bol was born in Sudan and didn’t touch a basketball until he was in his teens. Instead, he was a cattle herder with the Dinka tribe. He was discovered by a basketball coach working in the African country, and eventually Bol made his way to the US without speaking a word of English.

Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, or SJS, is a serious systemic disorder that affects typically the skin and mucuous membranes. In some cases, significant involvement of the eys, nose, genitalia, gastrointestinal system, urinary system, and lower respiratory tract also occurs.

SJS manifests usually with a rash that is quite distinct – a target lesion, so-called because it is red in the periphery and its center is vesicular or necrotic. These lesions may become bullous and rupture, leaving a denuded skin which can get worse. Other symptoms include fever, sore throat, and fatigue.

The most common causes that trigger SJS are hypersensitivity to drug and malignancy in adults and the elderly; and infections predominantly cause SJS in kids more than drug reactions and malignancies.