Global Courant
“America’s Got Talent” winner Michael Grimm is hospitalized and remains unconscious while battling a serious, unknown illness.
The 44-year-old blues singer, who won season 5 of the talent show series, was admitted to an intensive care unit, where he was sedated and put on a ventilator after falling ill Memorial Day, his wife, Lucie Zolcerva-Grimm, said.
Zolcerva-Grimm, who is also Grimm’s manager, addressed his friends and fans an 11 minute video she uploaded to the musician’s Instagram page on Wednesday.
“I know you all love Michael, and while I want to protect his privacy and his request not to disclose, we are in a certain situation,” Zolcerva-Grimm said in tears. “It’s been an emotional ride.
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“America’s Got Talent” winner Michael Grimm has been hospitalized for more than a week with a serious unknown illness. (Justin Lubin/NBCU Photo Bank)
“For those of you who have visited Michael in recent months, you may have noticed that he struggled a lot with his health, had no energy and was unable to play shows.”
Zolcerva-Grimm explained that Grimm went to the emergency room, but the doctors “couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him.”
“Whatever the problem, on Memorial Day it kind of took over for him,” she said. “He was looking more and more sickly. Suddenly he could barely walk, couldn’t lift his head. He couldn’t respond to me right away. When I asked him things, he got really woozy.”
Zolcerva-Grimm said she then rushed her husband to the emergency room because she feared he was going to have a stroke.
“Luckily that wasn’t the case,” she said. “Whatever was going on in his body, from whatever – toxins, I think – they went to his brain. He started talking gibberish and suddenly, as if physical tremors started to set in, his blood pressure shot up. He got really agitated with the medication he was on, and they had to put him in ICU.
Grimm was the winner of the show’s fifth season in 2010. (Trae Patton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank)
“So he’s fine,” she said. “However, through the last week his body has been through a lot. And they still have him sedated so he doesn’t get stuck or flattened by the fluctuating blood pressure. So while Michael may not like this, because he’s a very private person, I want to tell you let us know, because he won’t be here for a while.”
Zolcerva-Grimmn explained that she had canceled most of Grimm’s upcoming June concerts and his July 4 show.
“I haven’t canceled anything else because I’m trying to be hopeful and give him a chance to come back and see where he stands,” she said. “It’s a day-by-day process, so you may see some cancellations coming in July.
“Michael is in ICU for a week for the safety of his health,” Zolcerva-Grimma continued. “They had to put him on a ventilator and sedate him pretty heavily so he wouldn’t have a stroke, so he wouldn’t flatline.”
Zolcerva-Grimm added that Grimm was taken off the ventilator on Wednesday and was breathing on his own.
During the “AGT” finale, he told judges Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandel that his performance of “When A Man Loves A Woman” was inspired by Zolcerva-Grimm. (Trae Patton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank)
She said that Grimm’s doctors have not yet been able to diagnose his illness.
“He’s improving, so that’s good,” said Zolcerva-Grimm. “It just takes time.
“It’s really just a day-by-day, minute-by-minute thing. My priority right now is to attend to Michael and stay in the hospital and make sure he’s stable and taken care of. “
Zolcerva-Grimm assured fans that Grimm was being treated by a “phenomenal team of doctors and nurses”. However, she explained that the singer was facing a difficult recovery.
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“Not only will Michael need to regain full consciousness, which he is not yet, he will now need physical therapy as he has been bedridden for over a week,” she said.
“He has no voice at the moment. He needs to have his vocal cords repaired after being on a ventilator and get all his organs back to work and all his muscles back to work. Mentally he needs to get rid of this and return to a state of health.
“So this may take a while, and I ask all fans to be patient.”
The couple tied the knot in 2011 after being proposed by Grimm while appearing on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Zolcerva-Grimm concluded her video by thanking Grimm’s fans for their love and support. She shared information on how supporters could donate towards Grimm’s medical expenses and where to send him letters.
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“Have Michael in your heart and prayers and love,” she said. “He loves you all. Stay strong.”
The Mississippi native proposed to Zolcerva-Grimm during an appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” the day after being named the 2010 winner of “AGT.” The couple tied the knot in 2011.
During the finale, he told judges Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandel that his performance of “When A Man Loves A Woman” was inspired by Zolcerva-Grimm, his then-girlfriend of three years, according to People magazine.
“She’s been there for me,” Grimm told DeGeneres, according to the outlet. “Once you find that good woman, you hold her.”
Ashley Hume is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to ashley.hume@fox.com and on Twitter: @ashleyhume
