In the game of “Survivor,” the goal is to outwit, outplay and outlast the competition, but sometimes real-life troubles get in the way that lead to dramatic medical evacuations. As of this writing, a whopping 19 castaways have been removed due to health emergencies — 18 men and only one woman (Kourtney Moon). Tour our photos above (or click here for direct access) to see all of the “Survivor” medevacs/medical evacuations throughout the show’s run. Which ones were the scariest to watch on TV? Which ones do you remember vividly?
Michael Skupin (Season 2: The Australian Outback)
In episode 6, “Trial by Fire,” Skupin fell face-first into the campfire after taking in too much smoke. With skin hanging from his badly burnt hands, he was flown out of the Outback by helicopter as the show’s first ever medevac.
Bruce Kanegai (Season 12: Panama)
In episode 11, “Medical Emergency,” Bruce was taken out...
Michael Skupin (Season 2: The Australian Outback)
In episode 6, “Trial by Fire,” Skupin fell face-first into the campfire after taking in too much smoke. With skin hanging from his badly burnt hands, he was flown out of the Outback by helicopter as the show’s first ever medevac.
Bruce Kanegai (Season 12: Panama)
In episode 11, “Medical Emergency,” Bruce was taken out...
- 3/14/2024
- by Marcus James Dixon
- Gold Derby
Survivor is one of the most dangerous reality competition shows on television. The series features castaways stranded on an island exposed to the elements with limited resources. So, over the show’s 43 seasons, there have been 16 instances when producers had to pull contestants from the game due to injury, infection, or some other medical issue. And we’ve compiled the five most frightening medical evacuations in Survivor on CBS.
Jeff Probst, Caleb Reynolds, Nick Maiorano, and the ‘Survivor’ medical team | Photo by Robert Voets/CBS via Getty Images Michael Skupin in ‘Survivor: The Australian Outback’ was the first of 16 medical evacuations
The first season of Survivor featured no medical evacuations. However, the CBS reality competition show’s second installment included the first medevac in the series’ history.
Michael Skupin was the (self-proclaimed) leader of the Kucha tribe in Survivor: The Australian Outback. He fished and provided food for his tribemates.
Jeff Probst, Caleb Reynolds, Nick Maiorano, and the ‘Survivor’ medical team | Photo by Robert Voets/CBS via Getty Images Michael Skupin in ‘Survivor: The Australian Outback’ was the first of 16 medical evacuations
The first season of Survivor featured no medical evacuations. However, the CBS reality competition show’s second installment included the first medevac in the series’ history.
Michael Skupin was the (self-proclaimed) leader of the Kucha tribe in Survivor: The Australian Outback. He fished and provided food for his tribemates.
- 3/1/2023
- by Sarah Little
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
The premiere episode of Season 37 of “Survivor” started with a lot of touchy-feely moments and the usual grousing about outsized personalities, thanks to its premise of pitting so-called Davids against Goliaths. But it ended up with an unexpected and rather harrowing twist when Pat Cusack, a member of the David tribe who took charge of building their shelter, was suddenly shown to be moaning in pain and clearly injured in the final moments of the show. He somehow hurt his back when his tribe returned to their camp after they lost the immunity challenge when their boat went through choppy water caused by a rainstorm.
The maintenance manager, 40, from upstate New York tied the record for the earliest medical evacuation in “Survivor” history. That mark was previously set by Kourtney Moon of “Survivor: One World” in 2011’s Season 24 when she was forced to leave on Day 3. Moon remains the first...
The maintenance manager, 40, from upstate New York tied the record for the earliest medical evacuation in “Survivor” history. That mark was previously set by Kourtney Moon of “Survivor: One World” in 2011’s Season 24 when she was forced to leave on Day 3. Moon remains the first...
- 9/27/2018
- by Susan Wloszczyna
- Gold Derby
Stephen Fishbach was the runner-up on Survivor: Tocantins and a member of the jury on Survivor Cambodia: Second Chance. He has been blogging about Survivor strategy for People since 2009. Follow him on Twitter @stephenfishbach.
"I didn't realize how much of your heart and your soul and your spirit and your body are involved in this game. Your head is just a little bitty part of it." –Lisa Whelchel, Survivor: Philippines
It's hard out there for a Joe. Every Survivor Joe has met with a brutal physical end to his hard-fought game.
Joe Dowdle on Tocantins was pulled when he...
"I didn't realize how much of your heart and your soul and your spirit and your body are involved in this game. Your head is just a little bitty part of it." –Lisa Whelchel, Survivor: Philippines
It's hard out there for a Joe. Every Survivor Joe has met with a brutal physical end to his hard-fought game.
Joe Dowdle on Tocantins was pulled when he...
- 5/12/2016
- by Stephen Fishbach, @stephenfishbach
- People.com - TV Watch
Stephen Fishbach was the runner-up on Survivor: Tocantins and a member of the jury on Survivor Cambodia: Second Chance. He has been blogging about Survivor strategy for People since 2009. Follow him on Twitter @stephenfishbach."I didn't realize how much of your heart and your soul and your spirit and your body are involved in this game. Your head is just a little bitty part of it." -Lisa Whelchel, Survivor: PhilippinesIt's hard out there for a Joe. Every Survivor Joe has met with a brutal physical end to his hard-fought game. Joe Dowdle on Tocantins was pulled when...
- 5/12/2016
- by Stephen Fishbach, @stephenfishbach
- PEOPLE.com
“Concentrate your energy and hoard your strength” -- Sun Tzu, The Art of War Survivor is rough business. Almost a year after returning from Tocantins, I still have scars along my back, welts on my legs, and bruises where there were bug bites. But for all that I got beat up by the challenges and the elements, I got to play my game to the end. You have my sympathy, Russell S. Just like Jeff Probst cancelling tribal council, for the first time in the history of this blog, I will award no Fishies this week. Before Samoa, there had been six medevacs, caused by fire, infection, blocked bowels and ant bites. It’s proof of just how real Survivor is. You really are sleeping in the dirt. When it rains, you have nowhere to go and no weather report to reassure you that it will ever end. Doctors check...
- 10/23/2009
- by StyleWatch
- People.com - TV Watch
Brendan Synnott has become the latest participant to be eliminated from the current series of Survivor. Synnott was voted off by four of the remaining nine contestants by an alliance led by Tyson Apostol and Benjamin 'Coach' Wade. Coach said: "Brendan's the dragon, I'm the dragon-slayer. This is going to be the biggest power move to date of this game, no question about it." Joe Dowdle was medically evacuated (more)...
- 4/17/2009
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
Survivor: Tocantins took a disappointing turn this week as Joe Dowdle's leg infection forced him home and canceled the need for a Tribal Council. Though show medics feared the infection might cost the Texan his leg or even his life, he's now fully recovered, and spends his days working in real estate and playing music around Austin. He talked to us about his picks to win and why it's best to be up-front about who you are.
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- 4/10/2009
- by Tim Molloy
- TVGuide.com - Features
Survivor: Tocantins took a disappointing turn this week as Joe Dowdle's leg infection forced him home and canceled the need for a Tribal Council. Though show medics feared the infection might cost the Texan his leg or even his life, he's now fully recovered, and spends his days working in real estate and playing music around Austin. He talked to us about his picks to win and why it's best to be up-front about who you are.
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- 4/10/2009
- by Tim Molloy
- TVGuide - Breaking News
My, how the tables have turned on Survivor: Tocantins. The once-mighty Jalapao, which seemingly boasted the majority of the brawn in this competition, couldn't get it together in tonight's reward challenge, as more ceramic pigs shattered than made it into Sydney Wheeler's outstretched hands. So it was Timbira that got to lounge next to a scenic waterfall and enjoy hamburgers with all the fixings—which sounded even more delicious when seasoned host Jeff Probst said it—and bulk up for the ensuing immunity challenge. In the meantime, Joe Dowdle from Jalapao and Erinn Lobdell from Timbira uneventfully cooled their heels on Exile Island, and Taj Johnson-George let J.T. Thomas in on her...
- 4/3/2009
- E! Online
Anyone else get disoriented after watching the scantily clad blindfolded tribe members wander through an obstacle course to trigger a cascade of corn and water and shakily fill their buckets? Over and over again? It's what Timbira and Jalapao had to do, though, to win an umbrella, a hammock, chairs, blankets and other means of comfort. Despite J.T. Thomas' face full of corn, Joe Dowdle proved a more efficient seeing-eye dog than Debbie Beebe and Jalapao won its second challenge in a row, enabling its members to rest their heads on pillows for a change and send Brendan Synnott off to Exile Island. Brendan in turn picked Jalapao's resident former popster, Taj Johnson-George, to accompany him once...
- 2/27/2009
- E! Online
The audition is over and the new season of "Survivor" is ready to get a kick start. The 16 castaways that will participate in the Tocantins edition of the reality game, have been announced. The line-up includes among others, models, a Grammy Awards nominee and a 19-year-old.
Sydney Wheeler (24), Sierra Reed (23) and Candace Smith (31) are models that will serve the women power. Tamara 'Taj' Johnson-George (37) meanwhile was one third of singing group Swv that grabbed a nomination at the Grammys and who was the star of reality show "I Married a Baller" in 2007. Also, if "Survivor: Gabon" had the oldest contestant, the Tocantins finds the youngest one in college student Spencer Duhm (19).
As usual the castaways will be exiled for 39 days in a remote area, building strategy and surviving the nature. This time the location takes place on a "rugged" highland of Brazil, Tocantins, where there are plenty of rivers but the temperatures can be unforgiving.
Sydney Wheeler (24), Sierra Reed (23) and Candace Smith (31) are models that will serve the women power. Tamara 'Taj' Johnson-George (37) meanwhile was one third of singing group Swv that grabbed a nomination at the Grammys and who was the star of reality show "I Married a Baller" in 2007. Also, if "Survivor: Gabon" had the oldest contestant, the Tocantins finds the youngest one in college student Spencer Duhm (19).
As usual the castaways will be exiled for 39 days in a remote area, building strategy and surviving the nature. This time the location takes place on a "rugged" highland of Brazil, Tocantins, where there are plenty of rivers but the temperatures can be unforgiving.
- 1/14/2009
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
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