Survivor fans saw one of the scariest moments in the show’s 25-year history when season 49 castaway Jake Latimer was removed from the game after he was bitten by a venomous sea snake.
The castaways on the Kele tribe were calm at first during the Wednesday, October 8, episode, as Jake, 36 wasn’t even sure he had been bitten. But when he saw bite marks on his foot and tribemate Alex Moore went to check the safety guide at camp, he saw it was from a venomous sea krait.
Fortunately, production had a boat at Kele beach already delivering camera equipment, host Jeff Probst explained in the accompanying episode of the “On Fire” podcast. Production felt it would be faster to load Jake onto the boat and take him to their “base camp” about 30 minutes away than for medical to travel out to him.
Once doctors were able to get a look at Jake, they determined his bite was likely non-venomous. But as Probst, 63, explained, there is no blood test to confirm that and sea krait bites are so rare that nobody present even knew of anyone who had ever been bitten, meaning he needed additional observation.
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Eventually, the medical staff determined that it was not safe for Jake to return to the game. He was transferred to a hospital where doctors observed him before he was sent home.
What Is a Sea Krait?
A sea krait, or a black-and-white banded sea snake, is a highly venomous, semi-aquatic sea snake found around southeast Asia and Australia. They are typically reclusive and tend to hunt at night, making their interactions with humans exceedingly rare. Probst explained during the episode that, even though it appeared Jake’s bite was dry, a sea snake bite could be about 10 times more dangerous than that of a rattlesnake, so doctors had to proceed with caution.
How Did ‘Survivor’ Respond to Jake Latimer’s Bite?
Once Jake arrived at base camp, the medical team hooked him up to oxygen and IVs, treating his bite as if it were venomous, since they did not know for sure. When they felt comfortable moving him, Jake was relocated to a hospital in nearby Lautoka, Fiji. No one on staff there had ever seen a sea krait bite either, so Survivor transported him via air ambulance to another hospital in Australia.
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Why Did the Medical Team Ask if Jake Was Breathing?
As Probst explained during “On Fire,” the medical team lost contact with the boat while producers were relaying an update on Jake’s condition. They had not communicated that he was conscious and seemingly in minimal pain, so the medical team was forced to prepare for the worst.
Why Was Jake Not Allowed to Return to the Game?
Probst explained that whenever someone requires medical attention on Survivor, it is the doctor who has complete say in whether that player can return to the game.
In this case, the decision to remove Jake came down to three factors. First, he needed further observation and, as Dr. Barry McKenna put it while he was treating Jake, there were “too many uncontrolled variables” in the jungle.
Second, Probst said Jake was emotionally drained.
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“Even if Dr. Barry thought he was fine, you just couldn’t put him back in 110 degree heat in the middle of the jungle,” he said on “On Fire.”
The third factor was fairness.
“If you want to get really into the nitty gritty, he had a lot of IVs and fluids and all sorts of things being injected into him and you could say well that’s too much of an advantage,” Probst said.
Did Jake Make it Home in Time to See the Birth of His Baby?
Yes. As the show went to commercial, CBS displayed a card with a photo of Jake holding his newborn son. The text on the right read, “Jake is healthy, and the silver lining is that he made it home for the birth of his son.”
Probst added during “On Fire” that he now holds full-cast Zoom calls before each season, and was able to check in with Jake ahead of the September premiere. Probst gave Jake a heads up about what the episode was going to show so that he and his wife could both prepare.
How Did Jake and His Wife Respond?
After the episode aired, Jake shared a video of himself via Instagram where he expressed his thanks to CBS and the medical staff on-site for ensuring his safety.
“That was incredibly hard to watch and to live that again,” he said. “I think God works in mysterious ways. I was able to make it home for the birth of my child, which I haven’t been able to tell anybody…it’s very hard to watch the other contestants go on because I want to be there. I want to do my job and keep my tribe strong, but at the end of the day, that’s the game. That’s the risk we take.”
His wife, Louise, posted a photo of herself watching the episode via her Instagram story, showing her hand placed over her mouth.
“The day this all played out I was still pregnant,” she wrote over the image. “That phone call was not easy. Watching this hits so different. So thankful he is alive. That’s not how he wanted to go. So heartbreaking to see his dream end.”
Survivor airs on CBS Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET.
