[Obituary] Godfrey Gao Passes Away at 35
Taiwanese-Canadian actor, Godfrey Gao (高以翔), passed away this morning in Ningbo after a sudden collapse on the filming set of Zhejiang Television’s variety program, Chase Me <追我吧>. The 35-year-old’s heart had stopped beating for three minutes. Paramedics briefly resuscitated him and immediately rushed him to the hospital. Doctors attempted to save Godfrey’s life for the next three hours, but unfortunately he slipped away. The cause of death is cited as a heart attack.
At 1:45 a.m., Godfrey was filming a jogging scene for Chase Me when he suddenly cried out, “I can’t do it anymore” and fainted on set. Paramedics arrived and gave Godfrey CPR, and his heartbeat had returned at that time. At 2:30 a.m., Godfrey was rushed into an ambulance to the nearest hospital.
At 11 a.m., the Chinese media announced that the 35-year-old actor passed away after doctors were unable to revive him. His management agency, JetStar Entertainment, confirmed his death.
Born in Taipei, Taiwan on September 22, 1984, Godfrey later moved to Vancouver, Canada in his childhood. He studied at Capilano University in Vancouver. Returning to Taiwan to work as a model, Godfrey became the first Asian model to be featured in a global Louis Vuitton campaign. Finding success as an actor, Godfrey has appeared in various Taiwanese and Chinese dramas such as The Queen of SOP <胜女的代价> and Remembering Li Chuan <遇見王瀝川>; Hollywood film The Mortal Instrument: City of Bones; as well as the movies Wedding Bible <婚礼日记> and Shanghai Fortress <上海堡垒>.
Experiencing popularity in China in recent years, Godfrey’s tragic death left fans in shock and disbelief. The actor loved to play basketball and has been in good health.
It is said that the show Chase Me poses a high risk factor for guest stars since they are asked to complete dangerous physical challenges. Prior to Godfrey’s death, previous incidents have also occurred on set.
Source: Zaobao
This article is written by Jayne for JayneStars.com.
Godfrey Gao Collapses On Filming Set; Heartbeat Stopped for 3 Minutes
Godfrey Gao’s Death Brings to Light the Dangers of Reality Show, “Chase Me”
Wow! This is shocking! He was so young. Condolences to his family & friends. 🙁
Though I’ve never met you in person, I know your closest circle of friends in Van. I am sure they are hurt and sad by your sudden passing. R.I.P.!
Im so sad!!! He’s too young to pass away like this! Didnt even have a chance to see his love ones. I dont even know the actor, but it’s just too sad and shocking! Sometimes I’m not even sure if life is unfair or fair…if you got fame and fortune then life will take something meaningful from you…in this case, his time…:(
@jessehsuan
You should watch some of his works. I think he is a fine actor and I enjoyed his acting very much. I am so shocked and saddened as this is very sudden. I lost one of brothers and best friends in their early 30s suddenly too so I know how it is. I bet his family and friends and fans must be devastated.
So devastated
I am so shocked and saddened as he seemed to be in good health and was so young. This was just too sudden.I watched quite a few of his works and enjoyed them all. Hope he rests in peace and his family and friends remain strong as he would not want them sad. Hope they keep him in their hearts and remember the good times. That is how I remember my loved ones that have passed.
Death can visit unannounced. I am feeling so sad for those that cares about him. RIP
Show organizers really screwed the pooch here. Heard it was almost 15 minutes before he got any medical attention, his survival rate was basically 0 at that point… Even if he survived he would’ve had massive brain damage. AED within 3 minutes have survival rates of over 40%.
@terrycrews19 I bet the production company is now in panic mode trying to worm their way out with little responsibilities. Other cast members may be silence too!@
@terrycrews19
Really? Ok that is even more sad that they did not attend to him right away. But then again, if he had to live with massive brain damage, I do not think he would have been happy either. However, what’s done is done and no one can reverse it. I just hope he is in a happier and better place and that his family, friends and fans stay strong.
Heartbreaking for the family. This show shall either get sued or pulled off the air.
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!
Someone posted this on another site:
The crew did not response with CPR immediately till the other celebs demanded it. And the production company have seal off comments on their site and search engines. C-nets are in uproar about it.
There were no medical team in site to due with medical in this strenuous program.
My thoughts are I bet the production company is now in panic mode trying to worm their way out with little responsibilities. Other cast members may be silence too!
this is shocking. my sympathies to his family and all over the world for the loss of such an attractive face. his career was blooming, too.
Long hours filming, high intensity physical activities, cold weather, sleep deprivation and lack of medical assistance. All these things are just a perfect recipe for disaster. China’s work ethics is crap and treats its human capital as commodities simply because they have a large population.
Jack Ma’s 996 work culture is f–king stupid as well because who the hell would not fall into depression or health issues working 12 hours per day for 6 days of week and we haven’t even include commuting hours!
@rika
Doesn’t that sound like TVB? I remember Chan Hong Lit suffering a heart attack and passing away while filming Off Pedder years back. Overworking, little rest, and so many other things can truly get to anyone’s health… People often work too much to the point of not caring for their health but for monetary gain only. Health is above all as you have nothing without it.
@hetieshou It’s never worth overworking oneself to death. Only the bosses will laugh all their way to the bank.
@rika i dont think long hours filming will cause heart attack. You dont see any hk actors had heart attack at such age and collapsed. Bobby au said he only slept 3 hours last time when he was young. There must be other causes as well for this incidents. And we dont know if he ever had any medical check up in years.
@xrc56
True and he may have had other health issues that even he was unaware of. Each individual is different so you never know.
@xrc56 According to another news source, he already had flu but did not get to rest and continued to work for 17 hours until he dropped dead. At the point of filming Chase Me, he was running in the 9 degrees cold weather.
@rika I wonder if he had a viral myocarditis due to the flu. So terrible.
omg, omg, omg. he’s so young and was a rising star.
I hope that from this day forward there will be medical aids at film sets so that this doesn’t happen again.
I was a certified First Aid & CPR attendant. All you need is enroll a few film crew members in an Occupational First Aid & CPR course and ensure that at every film set there are a few crew members that are First Aid & CPR certified much like how it’s done in the west here.
Most corporate offices have a few first aid attendants working around the clock to ensure similar situations such as this do not occur yet these aren’t film sets nor at-risk work environments. These are your everyday corporate offices.
@anon
I agree and I remember Qiong Yao as the producer of Princess Pearl 3 always had doctors on set to take care of the cast. She said they worked hard to the point that they fainted. I hope medical aids will always be on call for everyone while working since no one knows what can happen.
@anon now u know how much more sophisticated the west is compared to China. It took the ambulance 45 minutes to arrive and one needs to pay first before they save anyone. Tell me who really wants to be in communist china with its backward system.
@sarala
“now u know how much more sophisticated the west is compared to China”
China ain’t perfect, but no country is. There are many areas in the West where they are backward compared to China. Don’t even get me started.
“It took the ambulance 45 minutes”
Maybe they were filming in a remote area? Maybe the film crew were incompetent? Maybe they took a while to call for help? I am just throwing guesses here. There are many possibilities. Unless you were there, you wouldn’t know why either.
“one needs to pay first before they save anyone”
This is hard to believe. Show me some proof.
“Tell me who really wants to be in communist china with its backward system.”
The fact that you call China a communist country and a backward country shows you’re ignorant and a troll. Save your breath.
@anon 1 – they didn’t film in a remote area. Where they were filming was in the middle of the street/city. It’s a busy street that why they could only film at night time
2 – the reason why the ambulance took so long is because they set the course up like that inside the busy street/mall, plus they allow/have spectators to come and watch the show, so the set and people were blocking the ambulance. Basically bad planning, should have planned a clear way for the ambulance to come in if need be.
3 – the track record of that show is that many artists, who’s very fit and gym junkies even have to quit it after 2 days, shows that with such high withdrawal rate, and how others complains about their health afterward, they should always have a medical profession on staff and ready to help.
4. Because the tv channel is own by the government, this whole thing will be swept under rug! Or someone will pay it that poor soul will be the escape goat instead of the system, the tv station, that should be at fault
If you want to hear more about that show and the network, check avenue X on YouTube
I know you are pro china, but let not kid ourselves when it comes to health system. China is a lot more backward than other countries!
@littlefish
4. It’s premature to assume that the TV studio will sweep this under the rug. I’ll give it a few more weeks to see how this plays out.
“I know you are pro china”
– I know you’re pro-west.
“when it comes to health system. China is a lot more backward than other countries!”
– Read your response from #2: “the reason why the ambulance took so long is because they set the course up like that inside the busy street/mall, plus they allow/have spectators to come and watch the show, so the set and people were blocking the ambulance. Basically bad planning, should have planned a clear way for the ambulance to come in if need be.”
You blamed the filming studio for having an inadequate emergency plan – I’ll give you this, BUT how does poor emergency planning from the studio correlate with China’s “poor” medical system?
Please enlighten me.
@anon I used to work for a company that paid employees a little bonus if they’re certified first aid/cpr. It was in an office environment. So I agree, filming of dangerous stunts like this should always have medical responder, safety checks, and all that jazz.
My condolences to all his friends and family. This is very sad and shocking to me. I got know know through the Drama Love Queen. Life is so unpredictable. You may seem healthy today but who know what’s going to happen tomorrow. Please R.I.P.
now u know how much more sophisticated the west is compared to China. It took the ambulance 45 minutes to arrive and one needs to pay first before they save anyone. Tell me who really wants to be in communist china with its backward system.
He would probably be alive if he werent in china.
@sarala
the average american can’t afford a $300 ambulance bill and will go bankrupt after a hospital stay if uninsured.
too bad the sophisticated west is also full of opoid addicts, homeless people and the mentally ill with guns. otherwise, it’s utopia.
@msxie0714 Maybe they cant afford but the US goverment will cover it. The west like China also is full of those u mentioned, no government can control how every single person behaves. The main difference is its unintentional by the government where the ccp massacred, tortured and suppressed it citizens constantly is intentional. Just yesterday, mass protest in Guangzhou with police being violent. The government collects taxes from its people and is supposed to protect them not abuse them. I have nothing against china personally just dislike how the ccp party governs. Ppl should be able to choose its party like the US, democratic, republican or conservative not just stuck with one totalitarian party.
@sarala agreed. the more i read about chinese gov’t (especially Tiananmen Square protests) and what the current gov’t is doing, the more i get shivers. there’s too much power focused on the elite ruling class of society there and no ability to revoke that power. at least in the U.S., citizens have the power to vote those people out of office. you can’t do that in China.
@coralie yes and its still happening in China, some are hidden and some are not. Lots of protest also. Theres no freedom of press so they can easily cover it up if they do it behind closed doors. Those who said that ccp is new and give them time just dont realize theyre not improving but going backwards. Deng Xiaoping wanted Hong Kong to be a model of democracy for China. Not HK follow China in to communist. Five countries that are communist are dirt poor and cruel, so theres no way communist can be good. The reason China started having more wealth these few years is due to the return of Hong Kong as a financial gateway. Hong Kong has over 100 years of prosperity. Ccp gained wealth by selling cheap massive labor, copies western technologies and selling natural resources by damaging their envirament like black coal, etc.(other western countries not willing to damage their enviroment). Pretty soon these will run out and theyll become very poor again.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/235320853568651/permalink/817279238706140/
The hong kong protest is helping to free the chinese people. No Hong Kongers are not so naive to believe US has their best interest but since US have benefits to gain from free trade so their help is great.
@sarala i believe it. china’s willing to do anything to keep the public within their control and not opposed to underhanded dirty ways. a gov’t that kidnaps its own citizens (FBB, Xiao Jianhua, Gui Minhai, Lee Bo, etc.) isn’t one you want to have control over you.
@coralie for sure
@msxie0714 I live in NY. I was at school running & fainted, probably because I didnt eat. The school called an ambulance. When the bill came it was $2,000 – for ONLY the ambulance. I received separate bills for doctors. I called the hospital & they said thats how much they charge, even if it was a short ride
@luye I was once walking to the 18th floor only cuz elevator was down and I felt Iike I was dying/fainting. One of my friends who goes to GYM at least once a week and he says if he goes to the heavy stuff for 2 hours straight is already a killer. Imagine if whatever they reported on working 17 something hours, extreme cold, and doing such strenuous exercises it’s more shocking that he was able to film for 4-5 hours b4 collapsing???? GG must have had alot of energy and stamina if you think about it. JUST HORRIBLE AND SHAMEFUL!!! OMG!!
@luye @sarala
Exactly. You couldn’t have said it any better.
The US health system is the worst healthcare system in the developed world. Even the US mainstream news media admits that, The irony of @sarala using that as an example to compare that to China is a joke all in itself.
In China, everyone has access to healthcare regardless of you’re rich or poor. The quality of care may not be the best in the world when you’re poor, but if you’re broke, you will receive an adequate level of care, you will recover and get healthy. That’s better than not having any access to healthcare at all like in the USA when you’re in poverty.
In the US, $2000 for an ambulance ride when you’re uninsured practically means you have no access to healthcare when you’re broke.
When she pointed out that you need to pay to receive medical attention when the Ambulance arrives in China. I will gladly admit that I am wrong if you can provide a credible source, but I know you can’t.
In this situation, sure I think it’s inexcusable that the Ambulance showed up 45 minutes late, but I think it’s even more inexcusable for the filming studio to not have a medical team on-site for immediate medical attention when Godfrey collapsed.
People like @sarala just love to politicize everything and draw comparisons when it’s unnecessary.
some ppl will say the US police shoot ppl but they forgot to mention that in the US ppl have guns. Whether the US police did it under self defense, theres either investigation, trial and or appeal. Theres no standard for that in china and none in hong kong protest so far. https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/12492
@sarala not everyone in the US has guns. There are people who were killed by the police, but plenty of police get away with it & dont get convicted.
@sarala
“Whether the US police did it under self defense, theres either investigation, trial and or appeal.”
Sure, if you’re WHITE.
But If you’re a an ethnic minority, particularly if you’re a low income African American, every year, there are dozens of police gun-related incidents, some involving death, that do not see the light of day in a judicial court trial. No official investigation, no trial. Instead, the police officers are often written up and get suspended with pay as part of the “investigation”. Everything is done behind closed door.
Yeah, the USA is so much better off. LOL
some unreasonable people likes to twist the logics around and just point on one base. They just have no shame at all, such barbarians https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sAAr1klEJg
@sarala
This is clearly an edited video that shows only one side of the story/perspective, there’s definitely more to this video than what was shown, particularly the seconds BEFORE the incident took place.
The SCMP throughout these protests have shown untruthful and distorted video clips that support their narrative, but sure if you’re anti-China then I can see why you would call her a barbarian. LOL
” Paramedics arrived and gave Godfrey CPR”. So meaning if someone on set can do CPR prior to that that’s very good chance he will survive right? Omg, can’t imagine going to a stupid variety show like that and lost your life esp when the paid wasn’t even that much I mean since they claimed he’s from a well to do family and it’s a guest fee that he took. OMG… Simply horrible really. I watched his series here and there and I thought not to my liking but he’s definitely eye candy and waiting for more of his good works esp the one that was recently wrapped up and won’t be broadcasting til 2020 or something. OMG!!!
@wm2017 yes. According to witness on the scene, they did not revive him in the first 5-7mins. Initially they thought he just being dramatic, didn’t even bother checking if he was ok. So the response was slow. And because they don’t have an actual trained medical professional on standby, because if they do, he would able to spotted something was wrong! The response was slow, and because the ambulance couldn’t get it, it was even slower
Jayne…again comment is not showing?
@luye I was once walking to the 18th floor only cuz elevator was down and I felt Iike I was dying/fainting. One of my friends who goes to GYM at least once a week and he says if he goes to the heavy stuff for 2 hours straight is already a killer. Imagine if whatever they reported on working 17 something hours, extreme cold, and doing such strenuous exercises it’s more shocking that he was able to film for 4-5 hours b4 collapsing???? GG must have had alot of energy and stamina if you think about it. JUST HORRIBLE AND SHAMEFUL!!! OMG!!
jayne,
comment not showing again??????