10 Times Castaways Had to Leave ‘Survivor’ Due to Injuries
It’s not always possible to “outwit, outplay, outlast” on Survivor, particularly when you’re battling for life and limb! Several castaways have had to leave their seasons of the CBS reality competition via medical evacuation, and a preview of Season 44 shows that another contestant may be joining their ranks.
In that preview, Survivor host Jeff Probst halts a challenge and brings in the medics to treat a fallen competitor. “If this doesn’t bond us, I don’t know what will,” another castaway says as he watches the scene play out.
Ahead of that dramatic turn of events, here’s a recap of 10 other contestants who left the show with aches, pains, and scars.
Survivor, Season 44 Two-Hour Premiere, Wednesday, March 1, 8/7c, CBS
Season 2: Michael Skupin
Skupin was the first Survivor castaway to need medical evacuation from the show: He was taken out of the Australian Outback after falling into a campfire and burning both hands.
Season 16: Jonathan Penner
A puncture wound led to an infection that led to this Micronesia contestant leaving the game. “I was immediately taken to the hospital, operated on the next day,” he told Reality TV World afterward. “I was put on IV antibiotics for a week. Then I was operated on again later. The whole thing took … probably 20, 21 days.”
Season 16: James Clement
Clement also had to leave Season 16 — in his case, a finger infection endangered his hand. And in Season 20, a.k.a. Heroes vs. Villains, he suffered a knee injury mid-competition. “I tore my ACL meniscus, and then I got some sort of infection from bad water, and it messed up the knee more,” he told People afterward.
Season 18: J.T. Thomas
On his way to victory in Survivor: Tocantins, Thomas had a tooth knocked out in an immunity challenge involving slingshots and swinging nets. “First time ever in the history of Survivor a point was scored while losing a tooth,” host Jeff Probst said.
Season 18: Joe Dowdle
Dowdle also endured a tooth injury that season — he chipped his tooth on the way to Tribal Council, as he later revealed to Entertainment Weekly — but the injury that took him out of the running was a leg infection. “It was really tough to keep my head in the game when my leg infection got out of control,” he told EW.
Season 24: Kourtney Moon
Moon broke her wrist during an immunity challenge in One World, later telling People that she knew something was wrong when she heard a crack and saw her hand dangling. “I can’t believe how much I was smiling when it happened because it was really painful,” she added. “I was proud I didn’t cry on national television.”
Season 26: Shamar Thomas
Thomas left the Caramoan competition with multiple battle wounds: He suffered two scratches to his cornea after getting sand in his eye, and he had a piece of bamboo go through his finger. “[The finger is] permanently scarred and permanently disfigured,” he later told Reality TV World.
Season 32: Neal Gottlieb
Gottlieb is another castaway scarred by his time on Survivor, and not just because of the knee infection that eliminated him. “I have scars, probably more scars than most from the experience,” the Kaôh Rōng contestant said in an exit interview with CBS. “I have two in my hands, one from a giant clam, another from an infection on my leg, and then the knee and the back are the big ones.”
Season 37: Pat Cusack
In the show’s David vs. Goliath season, Cusack was taken away on a stretcher after sustaining a spinal injury during a bumpy boat ride. He was later diagnosed with spinal compression deterioration, as he revealed to Newsweek. “I still to this day don’t have any recollection of any of that situation on the beach,” he told the magazine.
Season 39: Karishma Patel
During the Island of the Idols season of Survivor, Patel accidentally sliced her hand with a knife, saying the wound was so deep she could see her bone. “I definitely regret not being more careful with the darn knife on day 7!” she told Entertainment Weekly. “I have a feeling if I didn’t hurt myself, some of the dominoes may not have toppled the way they did. By the way, still can’t feel my index finger!”
