Survivor: Edge of Extinction host Jeff Probst is dishing on that frightening and shocking moment Lauren O'Connell fainted during the Individual Immunity Challenge.
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As fans saw during Wednesday night's episode, Lauren, a 21-year-old student at Baylor University from Bakersfield, CA, who currently resides in Waco, TX, passed out during the Immunity Challenge in which she had to stand inside a wooden frame with a block wedged between her head and the top of a frame.
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When a player's legs gave out, he or she would be out of the challenge. But Lauren's entire body gave out before her legs did, and she passed out nearly 30 minutes into it.
"During the challenge, I didn't have any idea Lauren was struggling. Once I saw the footage, it made more sense," Probst told Entertainment Weekly.
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Once David Wright dropped out and left three castaways fighting for the immunity necklace, Lauren suddenly noted, "I can't see anything. I'm about to black out."
Lauren then fell off her frame and onto the ground -- hard -- and Probst quickly assembled the medical team to give her treatment.
"She was talking very quietly to herself, almost under her breath. And then she just dropped. When something like this happens we have a very clear protocol," Probst explained.
"Medical is called in immediately and because they are at every challenge it only took a few seconds before Dr. Joe and his team were at Lauren's side."
Probst had to determine amid all the chaos whether to stop the challenge immediately or allow Victoria Baamonde and Aurora McCreary to continue duking it out for safety.
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But once Dr. Joe arrived, Probst admitted he was "in charge."
"That's why I turned things over to him. If at any point he had told me to stop the challenge, we'd immediately stop," Probst told EW.
"Because the challenge was static and nobody was going anywhere, I just kept checking in with him waiting for his decision."
Survivor's longtime host added, "Fortunately, it was only a few moments before she woke up and Dr. Joe quickly indicated to me that she was fine and we could continue with the challenge."
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Once Lauren woke up on the ground, instead of expressing fear over what had just happened, she was simply pissed she was out of the challenge.
"Damnit!" Lauren yelled.
"Maybe the most significant impression of the entire event was Lauren's reaction the second she woke up," Probst said.
"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."
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Probst then went on to pay Lauren a huge compliment.
"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," Probst explained.
Lauren is still in the running to win the $1 million on Survivor: Edge of Extinction, but she has had a tough battle since the start of the season.
Because the rice apparently made Lauren sick, she has been starving on the island and barely getting by. In fact, she was almost voted out of her pre-merged tribe for being a liability.
However, Lauren has insisted to the cameras she is a strong competitor and one heck of an athlete, so she may not be going anywhere for a while.
The latest Survivor: Edge of Extinction episode concluded with castaway Eric Hafemann being voted out of his merged Vata tribe with eight votes on Night 22 of the game.
Eric -- who was completely blindsided -- ultimately chose to continue in the competition on Extinction Island.
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Lauren received two votes at that Tribal Council session, while returning player Kelley Wentworth, a 31-year-old marketing manager from Ephrata, WA, who currently resides in Seattle, WA, also received two votes.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski