It’s true that contestants on American Idol make friends for life as was evidenced by a songwriting retreat in Virginia hosted by Season 23 contestant Nina Daig, but things took a turn for the bad when Top 8 finalist Josh King was rushed to the hospital suffering from excruciating pain.
It was a five-hour drive to Nina's from Josh's home, so not a bad trip, but it sounds as if he may not have stayed hydrated. Two days ago, he made a post about the incident on his Instagram, including photos of fellow contestants Skylie Marie Thompson and Grayson Torrence visiting him in the hospital, his trip there, and Nina's home.
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He wrote: “So the first day went great. I got to hang out with the gang and got a good night's sleep. Next day was good too, hung out by the river, sang at the special Olympics with everyone, wrote some songs, but then I started to feel a bit iffy (if that's a way to put it.) Went to sleep and woke up the next morning entirely unable to move. I was in such excruciating pain that I evacuated anything that remained in my stomach ?”
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A post shared by Josh King (@officialjoshking)
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Josh was rushed to the ER by Nina’s husband, where he spent the rest of the weekend.
He went on, “My heart rate was a steady 125-130 bpm for most of Saturday (resting), and any ounce of movement hurt like hell. I don't quite know what it was exactly. (Official diagnosis is SIRS, but even they were questioning that). But the doctor said there was a ton of strain on my heart as a result, and I had to be monitored for the next two nights. The cause was a combination of things, dehydration, fatigue, stress, heat exhaustion, etc.”
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According to the Cleveland Clinic, SIRS (systemic inflammatory response syndrome) is a life-threatening medical emergency caused by your body’s overwhelming response to a stressor. This could be things like an infection, trauma or a worsening health condition. SIRS requires prompt treatment in a hospital.
The conclusion of Josh’s post included the good news that he has since been released from the hospital and he has been taking care of his health, but he added, “Idol family was there for me once again when I needed them :)”
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