An emergency illness has taken last year's world champ out of the upcoming IBJJF World Championships only days before he was to defend his title.

Shane Jamil Hill-Taylor of Team Lloyd Irvin was only the fifth American athlete to ever win a gold medal at the World Championships. 

One of the heavily-favored in the featherweight division to make the podium, Hill-Taylor was struck by appendicitis and was rushed into hospital for emergency surgery just days out from the tournament. 

Hill-Taylor posted from his hospital bed on the Sunday night before the tournament. Recovery time to return to a normal routine after an appendectomy can range from 1 to 3 weeks depending on the type of surgery, but it is common to return to jiu-jitsu after four weeks of recovery or more. 

The no.1 seed, Jamil's withdrawal from the event opens up a big hole in the brackets. He would have likely faced Queixinho in the quarterfinal and either Gianni Grippo or Matheus Gabriel in the semifinal. 

Among the most competitive of all black belt divisions at the 2019 IBJJF World Championship, his absence means that whatever happens a new champion is guaranteed to be crowned as there were no other returning featherweight champions registered.