Dragonforce's Herman Li Is Auctioning Off A One-Of-A-Kind Guitar For Charity

Historically, metal fans are all about two things: blistering solos and helping those in need. Though they're often portrayed as flippant degenerates, metalheads have a long history of doing good for the world. Now, Dragonforce drummer Herman Li is asking fans to help a sick man -- and he's auctioning off a killer guitar to get you involved.

Herman is currently auctioning off a one-of-a-kind Ibanez EGEN Herman Li Signature prototype from 2007. 100% of the proceeds for the auction will go to the family of one Cody Spiess, who earlier this year was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, an extremely rare and fatal brain disease.

You can find all of the auction info at the Reverb.com page set up for the auction, and can also give money to Cody's family via their GoFundMe page. Meanwhile, here's a video of Herman discussing the guitar he'll be auctioning off:

CJD is a degenerative disease caused by prions, which also cause "kuru" or "laughing sickness." It affects one in one million people annually; symptoms start with memory loss and poor coordination before turning into dementia, blindness, and weakness. About 70% of sufferers die within the first year of diagnosis.

According to the Spiess family's GoFundMe page, "At this point we have very few answers as to what to expect, this disease is incredibly rare, affecting only about 1 in 1 million people annually, and for someone so young to contract it is infinitely more rare. This all means neither we or the doctors know much about what to expect going forward. We know we have a few months left, but we don't know exactly how much time or how quickly he'll decline. We're doing everything in our power to care for him at home as long as possible, hopefully for the rest of his life.

"Cody will be leaving behind his wife, Ingrid, and two young children, Otto and Jari, ages 2 and 4, as well as his loving parents Mike and Amber, and sister Cassidy, all of whom are working hard to care for him every day," continues the family's statement. "While we rally together as a family to help support Cody and care for him as he continues to decline, unfortunately the world around us marches on."

Read this next:

• Dragonforce's Herman Li picks his top five guitar riffs
• 8 times heavy metal did great things for the world
• The Browning's Jonny McBee talks about overcoming Bells Palsy