Can’t beat the heat. Viewers’ jaws dropped on Wednesday, March 9, as Survivor: Kaoh Rong aired its most terrifying moment of the season — and perhaps Survivor history, too. In the episode, titled “Signed, Sealed and Delivered,” three contestants collapsed of heatstroke following a physical competition.
The players battled it out in the sweltering hot conditions while trying to win kitchen items such as coffee, pots and spices. They faced several obstacles, most notably having to dig through a sand pit to find three bags of balls.
Debbie Wanner, a member of the winning Brains tribe, was the first to receive medical attention because of exhaustion. “After the first few seconds of shade and water, I felt better,” she told the cameras. “I knew I wasn’t being pulled from the game.”
Beauty tribe member Caleb Reynolds, however, wasn’t as lucky. The Big Brother alum collapsed after the competition and had to be airlifted to the hospital. Reynolds was left disappointed when host Jeff Probst later told him that he had to go home. “Buddy, you don’t have a choice. It’s a doctor’s call,” Probst said. “You pushed, brother. You pushed very hard. It took a toll. This is as far as you’re gonna go.”
The scary drama didn’t end there. Brawn tribe’s Cydney Gillon fell and was brought over to medics. Other contestants poured cold water over her face to keep her cool.
Probst opened up about the dramatic incident afterward, saying that it topped the list of scary moments on the show. “Three people down at once and one of them in very serious condition. There was no color in Caleb’s face and very little response from him for quite a while. Even for the first few moments after they put the oxygen mask on, Caleb didn’t respond,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “I don’t imagine Caleb has any idea what he went through and watching the episode was probably very emotional for him and his family.”
Check out how it all went down in the videos above.