America’s Got Talent Season 5 winner Michael Grimm has been hospitalized and sedated following a mystery illness last week. The blues musician’s wife, Lucie Zolverva-Grimm, revealed in a video shared to her husband’s Instagram account Tuesday that Grimm is currently hospitalized in the ICU after Grimm was looking “sickly” and was “fussy,” though doctors have yet to make a diagnosis.
According to Zolverva-Grimm, Grimm, 44, was hospitalized on Memorial Day after he had been “struggling with his health” for the past several months, experiencing symptoms that included a lack of energy, struggle walking and lifting his head, and struggling to finish his performances. Zolverva-Grimm said the mysterious illness “kind of took him over” on Memorial Day, with the musician “looking increasingly sickly,” and she “rushed him” to the emergency room, where his health continued to decline. Grimm started talking “gibberish” and his blood pressure skyrocketed. Grimm was placed in the ICU, his wife sharing that “for the safety of his health, they had to put him on a ventilator and sedate him pretty heavily, so that he wouldn’t stroke out, so he wouldn’t flatline.”
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“The good news is the doctors were finally able to remove the ventilator today,” Zolverva-Grimm shared. “He is breathing on his own, so he’s doing good… They do still have him sedated, so that he doesn’t seize or flatline from the fluctuating blood pressure.”
Zolverva-Grimm, who said she is feeling “emotionally and physically exhausted” after a difficult week, said doctors were able to rule out a stroke, but they haven’t yet been able to figure out “what’s wrong.” She added that her husband, who is very “private” about his health, will need physical therapy and vocal cord repair, adding, “It’s a day-by-day process. He is improving, so that is good. It’s just taking time.”
Grimm won over the judges and fans when he competed on Season 5 of America’s Got Talent. He won the competition after dedicating “When A Man Loves a Woman” to his then-girlfriend Lucie, beating out child singer Jackie Evancho. He went on to compete in America’s Got Talent: The Champions, though was eliminated early in the competition. Amid his health struggles, Grimm’s June concerts in Las Vegas have been canceled, as well as his Fourth of July concert in Arizona. His wife said that as of now, his scheduled performances in August will not be canceled in case Grimm’s health improves enough.
