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‘Survivor’ Contestant Lauren O’Connell, Host Jeff Probst Talk About Scary Fainting Incident

By Stacy Carey
Published on: 03:05 PST, Apr 4, 2019

Wednesday night on Survivor: Edge of Extinction, castaway Lauren O’Connell experienced a scary moment during an immunity challenge. She was one of the final three contestants in contention for the win when she said she wasn’t feeling well and ended up fainting. Now, both Lauren and host Jeff Probst are talking about that scary moment.

As viewers watched Wednesday night, the Survivor contestant started to feel lightheaded as she battled for the immunity win. Just after she said she couldn’t see anything and believed she was about to black out, O’Connell collapsed. Probst immediately called for medics to attend to her, and Lauren regained consciousness within a few minutes.

After the incident aired, O’Connell took to her Twitter page to share her thoughts. As Survivor fans saw during the episode, Lauren was fine after she regained consciousness, and she was mostly just frustrated and embarrassed about having fainted.

Probst talked with Entertainment Weekly about the incident and explained that he hadn’t realized O’Connell was struggling during the challenge. Jeff explained that Lauren had been quietly talking to herself before she fainted and as he watched the footage back later he saw it all more clearly.

Jeff explained that they have a clear procedure they follow in any kind of medical emergency and from that point on, Dr. Joe was in charge. The Survivor immunity challenge continued as Lauren was checked out, but Probst says if Dr. Joe had said they needed to stop, he’d have immediately stopped.

The Survivor host added that his most significant takeaway from the experience was Lauren’s reaction once she recovered.

“No fear at all, only frustration. She wasn’t worried about her health in the slightest, she was just mad that she passed out. That says it all. She is one of the most competitive players we’ve ever had, and she manages to play very hard while still being very kind. That’s a rare combination of human.”

Luckily, O’Connell didn’t have to be permanently pulled from the game. Does this incident have any kind of lasting impact on Lauren’s experience in the game going forward? Survivor spoilers haven’t revealed anything much on that front, but Probst does tease that the next Tribal Council is one of the craziest ones ever.

Survivor fans are noting on social media that they’re glad Lauren wasn’t hurt, and some expressed that they think someone should have been at the ready to help her considering that she was showing signs of trouble. Ultimately, it seems O’Connell has no qualms about how the situation was handled, and she’s clearly in it to win it.

Who will eventually outwit, outlast, and outplay this season’s castaways? Survivor spoilers tease that it’s going to be a wild ride to that final Tribal Council, and fans cannot wait to watch it all play out.

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