Emergency Leads to Dramatic Hospital Scene at Basecamp

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Survivor Season 49 Episode 3, “Lovable Losers.”]

The new era of Survivor has had its share of medical emergencies (there were three med stops in the Survivor 44 premiere alone), but none that have led to a scene in the production’s basecamp hospital while the medical team treated the injured castaway in Season 49 Episode 3. There was still a Tribal Council on top of this dramatic medical evacuation, which meant that two players from the same tribe were taken out of the game in the episode.

The Kele tribe just can’t catch a break. The so-called “lovable losers” are the only players who have been to Tribal Council in Survivor 49 so far. They booted Nicole Mazullo and Annie Davis in Episodes 1 and 2, and luck was not a lady for the team in Episode 3. Jake Latimer, whose wife was 9 months pregnant during filming, was bitten by a sea krait snake while on the beach at the Kele camp. The cameras didn’t show the moment of the bite, and it wasn’t painful enough to make Jake cry out in pain. But as Alex Moore showed in the survival tips binder provided to each player, a sea krait bite is highly venomous. Jake was rushed to the production’s hospital on the basecamp on Mana Island, part of the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji.

Jake was put on oxygen and treated quickly in the clinic. Jeff Probst came in to check on him and monitor the situation, telling the cameras that this was an “unprecedented” look behind the scenes of production. Miraculously, the snake delivered a dry bite, which is a bite with no venom in it. Think of it as a warning shot. Jake must not have realized he was getting close to the snake, and it attacked in defense.

Thankfully, this wasn’t a high-stakes medical emergency, but the doctors didn’t feel comfortable keeping Jake in the game. He would need additional monitoring out of an abundance of caution, and with his firstborn child expected to be born any day, the medical staff didn’t want to risk anything. On top of that, the ordeal took a physical and emotional toll on Jake. He was removed from the competition, leaving the Kele tribe without its strongest physical player.

Robert Voets / CBS

Kele’s remaining members, Sophi Balderi, Alex, and Jeremiah Ing, found out that Jake was sent home at the same time as the rest of the players. Probst informed them all at once before the episode’s first challenge. He told the cast that sea krait bites are “10 times more dangerous than a rattlesnake bite” when venom is involved, but that most of the time, sea kraits don’t actually inject their venom; dry bites are more common from that species. Still, production didn’t feel comfortable letting Jake return to the tough Survivor conditions — no fire, no food, little rest, exposed to all of nature’s elements — after his intense ordeal.

Probst told the castaways that they’ve been filming in Fiji for a decade, and in that time, they’ve never encountered something like this. They haven’t even heard stories about sea krait bites from the Fijian natives on their crew.

“We talked to everybody this morning when this happened. We don’t have a crew member that knows anybody that’s been bitten by a sea krait,” Probst said, trying to reassure the contestants. “It’s extremely rare. I know it happened in the same way that you can get struck by lightning.” The host shared Jake’s final words to his tribe: “I hope you are the final three, and I’m sorry I couldn’t help you get there.”

The Hina and Uli tribes still have six players each; Kele’s numbers have now been cut by half just halfway through the third episode. Their three-person tribe dwindled to two at the end of the episode, when the Kele tribe returned to Tribal Council after an immunity challenge loss. Alex had an immunity idol that cast a big shadow over the voting process. He said he was going to play it during Tribal, and he held to his word. With Alex protected, Sophi and Jeremiah were the only players who could be voted out.

The first vote went to Alex. The second and third went to Jeremiah, making him the fourth person voted out of Survivor 49. Alex and Sophi had been part of the tribe’s strongest alliance with Jake since Episode 1. Jeremiah was part of that core four as well, but he was more on the outside of the group than anyone else.

Survivor usually doesn’t make a team go to Tribal Council when a player is medically evacuated. Given Kele’s string of losses, should Survivor have allowed another elimination in this episode? Either way, Alex and Sophi are getting new tribes next week.

Stay tuned for our weekly exit interviews throughout Survivor 49.

Survivor, Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS

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