Boston Uprising player Kim “IZaYaKI” Min-chul suffered a collapsed lung on May 1 but “received immediate care at a local hospital” and is currently recovering and in good spirits, the team announced today.
The incident occurred just a day removed from Boston’s second straight win in week one of the Overwatch League 2023 Spring Stage qualifiers. He is still under the supervision of a specialist at the local hospital. While he recovers, he will be away from the team for a currently undetermined amount of time.
His support teammates Lee “LeeJaeGon” Jae-gon and Lee “Twilight” Joo-seok will solely take on the support duties for Boston Uprising for at least the next week of qualifier action when the team takes on both the Washington Justice and the Vancouver Titans. IZaYaKI and LeeJaeGon played together on Shanghai Dragons for multiple seasons before both joined Boston during this past offseason, in which the Uprising brought on a plethora of former champions during its signing spree.
In addition to the good news that IZaYaKI is both recovering and in good spirits, Boston are currently off to a strong start to the Spring Stage, with a 2-0 record and only one recorded map loss. Competing in the Western division of the Spring Stage, Boston could bypass the Spring Stage knockouts altogether with a top-two finish in qualifiers that would reward them with a direct spot in the Midseason Madness. Doing so would also afford IZaYaKI more time to recover.
The Overwatch League community as a whole wishes him a speedy recovery.
