Survivor Contestant Pulled from Game After Scary and 'Unprecedented' Medical Emergency

Jeff Latimer was forced out of the season after he was bitten by a sea krait while standing on the shores of the Fijian island where they film. The moment he was bitten, Latimer expressed concern over whether "this is bad or not," before the show's medical staff came and checked him out.

"You come on Survivor, it's this crazy atmosphere, but you never picture you're going to get bit by a snake," said fellow tribe member Alex Moore. "For everyone at home who thinks we're living at some resort, that's not true ... we're in the jungle, this is real out here."

As medical looked at the bite, Alex pulled out a "safety guide" the contestants are given, filled with animals and vegetation to avoid for various reasons. Among them was the black and white sea snake that bit Latimer, which was described as being "highly venomous."

Latimer was then pulled from their camp and taken back to base camp, cameras really breaking the fourth wall by showing the actions of production more than ever before on the show. As he got off the boat, he was placed on a gurney and given oxygen, telling medical staff, "I have a baby coming. I'm just scared."

Host Jeff Probst rushed to the medical building to be by Latimer's side, as the doctors looking at him explained they believed it was a dry bite -- meaning it was a bite without venom, more of a warning bite than anything. Despite that bit of reassuring information, Latimer was still concerned, continually telling them, "I have a kid coming."

The bite was still treated as if it were the worst possible scenario, just in case, as one of the doctors explained that while Latimer will likely feel physical pain from the bite, it was also probably affecting him mentally, due to his nerves, adrenaline and anxiety.

"Unprecedented moment, we've never had anything like this happen," Probst said to the camera as medical continued to check out Latimer, who the host said was "obviously emotionally upset, as he obviously would be ... we are absolutely focused on taking care of him."

After being given some fluids, he began to stabilize a bit. Probst then asked the head doctor about Latimer's future in the competition.

"We still have to think, he's had five days of no food, five days of limited water, he's had an intensely psychological experience, so how he is going to recover from all of that?" he wondered, before asking again in front of Latimer himself. "Given what he's just been through physically and emotionally, would you feel comfortable sending him back into the environment? You're not going to have food, you're not going to have water, you don't have fire."

"No," said the doctor. "There are too many uncontrolled variables there, Jake, and we have to protect you and you want to be a father for your unborn child and we need to protect that. I'm sorry," he said, as Latimer appeared crushed by the news. Probst then explained that they wanted to keep him under observation and give him nutrients, fluid and air conditioning, making it impossible for him to be ready for an immunity challenge planned for that day.

"This was my goal, man. Coming on the show was what I needed to do, for my dad, for myself, for my kid to bring home some money," Latimer said. "For something like this to pul me out of the game, not my fault, I was going good and I know I could win this show. Doctor's orders, man, it's been an absolute pleasure Mr. Probst."

He then sent a message to his three remaining tribe mates, saying, "Tell them I love them and I want to see them in the top 3. I'm sorry I couldn't be there to help."

Probst later relayed the news to all the other contestants immediately before the immunity challenge and they were all heartbroken Latimer had been pulled from competing. Jeff, however, reassured them they were safe -- comparing being bitten by a sea krait to being struck by lightning.

"I want to reassure all of you, we've been shooting in this waters for 10 years. We have a lot of Fijians on our crew who were born and raised here. We talked to everybody this morning when it happened. We don't have a crew member who knows anybody who was bitten by a sea krait; it's extremely rare," he told them, saying they "should feel okay to be in the water," as crew members would be as well.

In the end, Latimer's team lost the challenge and, for the third week in a row, had to send another member home. After the challenge, the show shared a photo of Larimer and his baby boy, adding, "Jake is healthy and the silver lining is that he made it home for the birth of his son." Previously, Latimer explained he would be missing his child's birth to be on the show.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Probst commended Latimer for being "remarkably calm throughout the entire ordeal." He added that Latimer was "in a fair amount of pain from the bite, and he was understandably very concerned as the sea krait is very venomous, which added stress, which exacerbated everything else."

"When we had to tell Jake he was being pulled from the game, it almost felt like relief for Jake. I think he knew it was coming," added Probst. "The amount of medical attention being paid to him was unmatched in any other evacuation on Survivor. Even if he had been physically able to return, I don't think he would have been emotionally ready. It seemed to me that all his thoughts were on his wife and unborn child. So when he got the news he was being pulled, it was as if he was able to fully breathe for the first time."