Smash legend ChillinDude suffers stroke, community fundraises for heart surgery

The Smash community has rallied behind Kashan "ChillinDude" Khan after his brother Burhan stated that the Liquid-sponsored Melee player and commentator had suffered a stroke and will require open-heart surgery.

32-year-old ChillinDude has been a staple of the Melee community for more than 15 years, inspiring generations of players to pick up the fighting game, particularly with his involvement in the acclaimed Smash Bros documentary, released in 2013.

What happened to Smash star ChillinDude?

According to a statement by ChillinDude's brother on GoFundMe, which was set up to help cover the hefty expenses of the surgery and recovery process, after days of being unable to contact Chillin, he reached out to his friends, who found him unresponsive in his bedroom in Southern California.

"His knee had an infection that spread to his heart, [and] the resulting blockage causing a medium-sized stroke which had incapacitated him for a long time before getting any help."

Chillin's brother confirmed that he's had massive speech and movement improvements these past few days, inspiring some hope that he'll recover fully. "He will take some time to heal from, but we're hopeful that with the proper care, he will make an almost complete recovery."

Smash community rallies behind ChillinDude after stroke

Almost every pillar of the Smash community has shared ChillinDude's GoFundMe page and donated themselves. Ludwig Ahgren, one of the most recognizable North American content creators, helped by donating $10,000. Team Liquid, Chillin's sponsor, also pledged $6,000.

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Joseph "Mang0" Marquez confirmed he'll be doing a fundraiser after returning from this weekend's Melee major, Battle of BC 4: "One of my favorite people I've ever met thru (sic) Smash." Even William "Leffen" Hjelte, who had a now-infamous beef with ChillinDude (which conjured the iconic "Respect Your Elders" diss track), also showed his support via social media.

Please consider supporting Chillindude's Stroke Recovery fund. He's a great dude and friend who's done so much for the smash community!

This weekend at Battle of BC, I'm going to not play white Fox to put some Respect on my Elders :')https://t.co/P1grObh1hk

— TSM FTX Leffen (@TSM_Leffen) June 11, 2022

Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma stated he'll try to work something out with the Battle of BC tournament organizers to allow donations to come through via the official stream. "Will keep everyone updated," he added.

Zain Naghmi, who was celebrating his 26th birthday as news broke, also encouraged the community to support ChillinDude, sharing a bit of insight into his relationship with the veteran player.

"[Chillin] welcomed me to his home many years ago when I was on the come-up. Since then, I’ve come to know him as one of the smartest, [most] charismatic people that I’ve met."

The GoFundMe, set up due to ChillinDude's lack of "proper coverage," has already accrued roughly $130,000 at the time of writing.

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Featured image courtesy of ChillinDude / Team Liquid.