Jeff Probst from Survivor reveals insights about a contestant who experienced a snake bite, resulting in a medical evacuation.
Snakes in the grass are constant problem for survivors. However, the snake in question in season 49 was not a dubious competitor; rather, it was a very real snake, a poisonous sea krait, which bit contender Jake Latimer as he stood in the shallows of the ocean, necessitating his medical evacuation on October 8.
It served as a reminder to longtime host Jeff Probst of how authentic the Survivor game is.
“When something more severe, like a snake bite happens, our medical team is immediately involved,” in an interview that was published on October 8, he informed The Hollywood Reporter. “The player has no say. Our biggest concern during production is the integrity of the game and safety of the players. In this case, the call to medical was immediate and the response was just as fast.”
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The 63-year-old disclosed further about the terrifying moment when Jake was brought to base on the boat and the medical team questioned him if he was breathing.
“While Jake was being transported by boat to base camp, we lost communication with them,” Jeff clarified. “So, when they arrived, we didn’t know what condition he was in.”
Regarding Jeff's perspective when Jake arrived at camp, he said, “It was very clear this was as serious as we feared and that Jake was in the absolute best care he could ever hope, for someone bitten by a snake in the middle of the ocean. He had our full team of doctors, nurses and paramedics.”
Fortunately, it was found that the bite was a "dry bite," which means that no venom had been administered. Nevertheless, the medical opinion was to prevent Jake from returning to the game.
Jeff also provided perspective on how safe the game's competitors are during filming, even if the experience served as a somber reminder of how harsh life in Fiji can be for the Survivor contestants.
“One way to look at it is, this is our 20th evacuation,” he stated. “The other way to look at it is that of the 751 people who have played Survivor over 25 years, only 20 have been evacuated. That’s just over 2 percent.”
He went on1, “What any evacuation says about this game is that it’s real. I still get asked all the time if Survivor is real. But for anyone who still wonders, that was a real sea krait, that was a real bite, and that was a very terrifying situation.”
