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Los Angeles-based dancer Gbari Gilliam, who was born in Oakland and raised in Berkeley, is facing a heart transplant after collapsing March 27 from an undiagnosed heart condition (gbaridenzel Instagram)<\/p>\nGbari Gilliam, a Berkeley High graduate who moved to Los Angeles to forge a thriving dance career in community, theater, TV and film, was in the hospital Friday, fighting for his life, after he suddenly collapsed from a previously undiagnosed heart condition that now requires he undergo a heart transplant.<\/p>\n
The \u201ctalented, kind, and passionate\u201d 32-year-old, who is said to be beloved in hip-hop and other dance communities in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, went into cardiac arrest during a dance rehearsal on March 27, his mother, Tuseda Graggs-Borden and his girlfriend, Shantel Ure\u00f1a, said.<\/p>\n
Last summer, Gilliam was performing with rapper Jimmy Bada$$ on \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d and his Instagram is filled with videos of his high-energy performances in a range of styles. Now he is on life support in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where his loved ones have said that he will need a heart transplant to survive, followed by extended hospital care and a long recovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re looking at,\u201d said Graggs-Borden of Pittsburg, who has spent the past week by her son\u2019s side. \u201cMy prayer is that his heart will get strong enough that he does not need the transplant but the doctors are not in my mindset, so he\u2019s officially on the transplant candidate list.\u201d<\/p>\n
Los Angeles-based dancer Gbari Gilliam, who was born in Oakland and raised in Berkeley, is facing a heart transplant after collapsing March 27 from an undiagnosed heart condition (gbaridenzel Instagram)<\/p>\n
People in the Bay Area and Los Angeles dance communities are rallying behind Gilliam and his family. They have been hosting dance-related fundraisers and are promoting a GoFundMe campaign <\/a>to raise $500,000, saying that the family expects to incur heavy bills to help cover the cost of Gilliam\u2019s hospital care, transplant treatment, recovery and rehabilitation.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s somebody who\u2019s well known and loved and gives a lot to any community he\u2019s in,\u201d said Graggs-Borden said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a friend to many, like when they are going through something, they can lean on him,\u201d said Ure\u00f1a, who also is his dance partner. She said Gilliam also is a choreographer and teacher who has built strong relationships throughout different dance communities by performing in a range of styles, including street, club, waacking and West African dance, some of which he learned while studying dance in UCLA\u2019s World Arts and Culture program.<\/p>\n Before Gilliam went to UCLA, he studied dance at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts in Richmond and graduated from Berkeley High in 2012, where he was senior class president, \u00a0Graggs-Borden and Ure\u00f1a said. In addition to his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s show, he\u2019s worked with Tyler Perry\u2019s production company and has appeared in some short films.<\/p>\n \u201cGbari isn\u2019t just extremely talented, he has star quality,\u201d said Shireen Rahimi of Oakland, aka Shea, a well-known performer in the Bay Area voguing community who first met Gilliam in 2017 and has become his \u201cballroom mother\u201d and watched him perform at events in Oakland and San Francisco. She said there have been multiple fundraisers for Gilliam planned in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York City, an outpouring of love that is a reflection of \u201cthe love he pours into others.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a sweet, kind and uplifting person, Rahimi added. \u201cHe\u2019s also very humble, and as a teacher, he always puts his heart into his students.\u201d<\/p>\n Gilliam has been diagnosed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic condition that causes thickening of the heart walls. It is a leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes and others who, like Gilliam, are otherwise is peak physical shape, according to the American Heart Association<\/a>. The condition sometimes goes undetected in some people because it causes no symptoms until a person suffers a medical emergency.<\/p>\n That was the case for Gilliam, who had just finished rehearsing a dance piece when he fell to the floor, Ure\u00f1a said: \u201cA friend of ours who was in the rehearsal ran over to him and she began giving him CPR.\u201d She said that a nurse who works at Cedars-Sinai nearby happened to walk past the studio and took over administering CPR.<\/p>\n Graggs-Borden said it was fortunate that Cedars-Sinai was the closest hospital so he was transported there. She said this hospital had the equipment needed to save his life.<\/p>\n On Friday, Gilliam was on an ECMO machine, a heart-lung bypass system that removes carbon dioxide from the blood and sends oxygen-rich blood back to the body, while allowing the heart and lungs to rest, according to the Mayo Clinic<\/a>. An update on the GoFundMe page said that doctors were evaluating whether he can be taken off the ECMO machine, which would be a major milestone signifying that his heart is beginning to work on its own.<\/p>\n Graggs-Borden and Ure\u00f1a also said that doctors had begun to reduce sedation, allowing Gilliam to have moments of consciousness when he\u2019s been able to show there was no cognitive impairment. \u201cWhen he\u2019s awake, he\u2019s able to respond to us,\u201d Graggs-Borden said. So she feels hopeful but also helpless with the waiting for his condition improves. \u201cYou want to do something but you can\u2019t,\u201d she said. \u201cPrayer has been a constant companion now.\u201d<\/p>\n In terms of dance-related fundraisers in the Bay Area, Rahimi said an event, the \u201cGQ Ball House and Waacking Battles + Mini Ball\u201d is scheduled for April 18 at Fluid510, 1550 Broadway, in Oakland. All the proceeds will go to Gilliam\u2019s GoFundMe. Details about the event is expected to be posted soon on the @OaklandToAll<\/a> Instagram.<\/p>\n \t\t\t