Gabriel Drake Santiago was a fictional character on the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital. He was the son of Dr. Patrick Drake and his late ex-fiancée, Nurse Sabrina Santiago.
He was born onscreen on April 25, 2014.
Teresa Castillo, who portrayed Sabrina, was pregnant in real life with a little girl during this time and her pregnancy was written into the show. She went on maternity leave from June 16, 2014 to August 21, 2014.
Gabriel Drake Santiago was conceived during the relationship between his parents, Patrick Drake and Sabrina Santiago, which ended in a broken engagement when Patrick's presumed-dead wife, Robin Scorpio-Drake, was revealed to be alive at their wedding.
On New Year's Eve, Sabrina becomes nauseous and vomits, prompting her best friend, Felix DuBois, to ask if she’s pregnant. Initially, Sabrina denies the possibility but allows Felix to buy her a pregnancy test. Despite hoping for a negative result, the test is positive. Felix urges her to tell Patrick, but Sabrina refuses, fearing she’d be acting like Britt Westbourne, who previously manipulated Patrick with a pregnancy.
Despite Felix’s arguments, Sabrina insists Patrick must not know and Felix reluctantly agrees to let her handle it. As Felix returns to work, Sabrina begs him to keep her secret. However, Carlos Rivera overhears and asks if it’s true. Sabrina admits she’s pregnant but won’t tell Patrick. She confides in Carlos that she’s considered not keeping the baby or giving it up for adoption. Carlos offers to raise the child with her, and she hesitantly accepts.
Meanwhile at the hospital, Felix struggles to deflect Patrick's questions about Sabrina's well-being. Under pressure, Felix reveals to Patrick that Sabrina is pregnant, just as Robin approaches. Patrick rushes to Sabrina’s apartment and asks her directly if she’s pregnant, which she confirms. As they begin discussing how to proceed, Carlos interrupts, falsely claiming to Patrick that he is the baby’s father.
Sabrina, caught off guard, supports the lie, telling Patrick she slept with Carlos the night of their interrupted wedding out of distress. Patrick, visibly upset, informs Robin that the baby isn’t his. While Robin is relieved, Patrick remains troubled.
When Patrick's daughter, Emma learns of Sabrina’s pregnancy, Sabrina lies to her, saying Carlos is the father. However, Elizabeth Webber inadvertently reveals the truth in front of Emma, exposing Sabrina’s deception. Realizing her lies have spiraled, Sabrina confesses to Patrick that he is the true father of her baby. Furious and hurt, Patrick leaves and tells Robin the truth. Sabrina also informs Carlos that he no longer needs to pretend to be the father, a decision that disappoints him.
Sabrina attends her first ultrasound alone when Patrick doesn’t show up and her regular doctor is unavailable. Britt steps in, informing Sabrina that the baby appears healthy, which delights her. Sabrina chooses to wait for Patrick before learning the baby’s gender.
Shortly after, she encounters Robin and Patrick and brings up her appointment. Patrick apologizes for his absence, explaining a last-minute conflict, and shares that Robin is leaving for volunteer work in Africa. Surprised, Sabrina asks if Robin’s departure is due to her pregnancy, but Patrick reassures her it’s not and affirms his commitment to being involved in their baby’s life.
On April 16, Patrick and Sabrina learn they are expecting a boy and on April 22, they tell Emma that she will have a baby brother.
Tragically, on June 4, baby Gabriel dies of massive organ failure.
Storylines[]
Baby Gabriel
Gabriel was born onscreen April 25, 2014 to Dr. Patrick Drake and Nurse Sabrina Santiago with the help of Dr. Britt Westbourne and the support of Patrick. After Patrick, Sabrina and Emma were in a car accident caused by Rafe Kovich, Jr., Sabrina goes into premature labor at 25 weeks pregnant and gives birth on the side of the road with the help of Patrick and Britt. After Gabriel is born, Britt tells Sabrina that he is breathing but they need to get to the hospital. Gabriel is rushed to the NICU by his father and Epiphany Johnson while his mother is taken to the ER with Felix by her side. Britt reveals to Patrick that Gabriel is 13 inches long and weighs in at one pound 12 ounces. He is on ventilator to help him breathe and has a 50/50 chance of survival. Later on, his parents come to visit him.
On May 13, he gives his parents a scare when he has trouble breathing, but the doctors get it under control. With this incident behind them, Emma comes to visit and asks about her baby brother's name. Patrick and Sabrina decide that it's time to name their son and together with Emma, they name him Gabriel Drake Santiago.
Baby Gabriel
For the next few days, Patrick and Sabrina continue to sit vigil by Gabriel's bedside in the NICU. His condition seems to be improving and he gains a little weight. Sadly, just as Patrick and Sabrina begin to think their son is out of the woods, Gabriel experiences a set back. While his parents are visiting with him, the monitors in the room start to go off. Britt rushes in with other doctors to work on Gabriel. Gabriel was experiencing necrotizing enterocolitis, which was causing his organs to shut down. Britt was forced to deliver this sad news to his parents. As a result of the necrotizing enterocolitis, the infection he was fighting spread to his intestines and he was no longer absorbing nutrients. The infection was also causing massive organ failure. Sabrina tearfully tries to think of other options to save her son, but Britt tells her that antibiotics will not be enough and Gabriel is too small to survive any surgery to repair the damage.
Britt tells Patrick that Gabriel only has a few hours left and the most they can do is make him as comfortable as possible. She advises the parents to spend time with their son and say goodbye. Sabrina wants a second opinion, so they call in Dr. Porter, who after examining Gabriel, sadly has the same news to share as Britt. Patrick and Sabrina are devastated and lean on each other for strength as they prepare to say goodbye to their son.
Gabriel's heartbeat
Patrick and Sabrina stay by Gabriel's side in his last hours. Epiphany and Felix arrive and ask, Sabrina if she would like to hold her son. Sabrina gets the chance to hold her son for the first time and asks to have him baptized. Gabriel is baptized in the hospital with his parents, Epiphany and Felix in attendance. After the baptism, Patrick also got the chance to hold his son and the three bonded alone as a family, reassuring each other that their mothers would be looking after their son in heaven. Felix arrived soon after with Sabrina's mother's stethoscope, so she could hear Gabriel's heartbeat. Patrick handed Gabriel back to Sabrina and helped her with the stethoscope.
Handing over Gabriel
She heard her son's heartbeat and sadly said to Patrick "We made that heart and I can hear it." Sabrina listened to his heartbeat until it stopped. Her last words to her son were, "Goodbye my sweet Gabriel, my heart has never known such love. You take it with you and never let it go."
Born at 25 weeks (15 weeks early) on the side of the road because of a serious car accident caused by Rafe Kovich, Jr., who was put up to by Victor Cassadine [Apr 25, 2014; revealed Jul 2014; revealed Aug 7, 2014]
Wasn't breathing when he was born (was placed on a ventilator) [Apr 25, 2014]
Weighed 1lb 12oz and was 13ins long at birth [revealed Apr 25, 2014]
Rushed to the NICU by his father once admitted to GH along with his mother [Apr 25, 2014]
Had a scare with his lungs [May 13, 2014]
Experienced necrotizing enterocolitis, which caused an infection to spread and massive organ failure [Jun 3, 2014]
