The Bachelorette alum Blake Moynes has been hospitalized in South Africa after contracting an infection while doing wildlife-conservation work and undergoing surgery to treat it.
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"Blake is in great spirits today post-op. Full recovery is expected," Emily shared of her 32-year-old son.
"He is getting excellent care now in a private hospital. I don't know when he's coming home. He's not supposed to come home until March, and knowing him, he'll stick it out because he will not leave until his work is done."
Emily said Blake traveled to South Africa about a month ago to fight poachers and save rhinos and elephants. Blake's ongoing efforts are for his Mowgli Moynes Fund, which supports animal awareness and funds wildlife conservation organizations.
"But I just wanted to tell you that I was literally, completely, overwhelmed yesterday with the amount of love and support and prayers and encouragement," Emily continued in her Tuesday video.
"I had a moment... because I thought, 'I've never felt more a part of a community' than I did yesterday. Your prayers meant so much. Thank you! Thank you. Thank you so, so much."
On Monday, Emily broke the news that Blake was fighting an infection also via Instagram Stories.
"I just got a call from Blake. I don't hear from him very often [because he's been] in Africa... and he doesn't have cell service. But he is down there... doing what he absolutely loves," Emily said, adding that Blake is "so passionate" about wildlife.
"But four days ago, he called and said he had a really bad infection that had been treated."
Emily then got emotional once she revealed, "I am starting to freak out -- he just got out of surgery."
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RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOWEmily, who asked her followers to "say a prayer for Blaker" amid his health crisis, explained, "Do you guys believe in the power of prayer? Because it doesn't matter how old your kids are -- the worry never stops."
"We could use some prayers for Blake," she added. "I want him to come home. F-ck Blake, just come home. I know you love what you're doing but you're freaking me out. I am ready to get on the next flight to Africa. Let's say a prayer for Blake please."
Blake has yet to address his health scare on social media as he recovers in the hospital.
It appears Blake is still single and looking for love after his two stints on The Bachelorette's sixteenth season starring Clare Crawley and Tayshia Adams followed by the show's seventeenth season starring Katie Thurston.
It's been well over a year since Blake and Katie announced their breakup in October 2022 after getting engaged on The Bachelorette's Season 17 finale, which aired just two months earlier in August 2021.
Blake and Katie said they fought too much and realized they weren't compatible once they took their relationship into the real world.
Less than one month after Katie and Blake's split became public news, Katie went Instagram official with a new boyfriend, John Hersey, a San Diego bartender who was one of her Week 2 The Bachelorette eliminees.
Katie's quick relationship turnaround led Blake to believe she had emotionally cheated on him, and told the press at the time how he was "speechless" and felt "flabbergasted" by her romance with John. (Katie and John previously denied any type of cheating, and they announced their breakup in June 2022).
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Blake shared, "It's one that I'd like to now forget -- just in the way that it all kind of played out. But, yeah, it has been a year and it does not feel like that at all."
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Although Blake mentioned it's difficult for people to earn his trust now, he assured fans that he has no unfinished business with Katie and has totally moved on from that relationship.
"I took a break [from dating] for a long time," Blake recalled.
"I was focusing on all these other things. I think naturally... you want to find that person and that love, and so, I started diving back into it again, trying [to meet someone]."
Blake noted how he went on a couple of dates in Fall 2022 but they "didn't go so hot."
"It didn't go so well. I didn't love how it went," Blake confessed.
"And so, again, projects and things come up where it's starting to take my efforts elsewhere. If I don't think I can fully put the effort into actually trying to make a relationship work, it's going to take someone super special who is patient and very supportive, and I just haven't felt like I've ran into that yet."
Blake therefore said at the time he was "reluctant" to date a woman if he can't "give it [his] all."
Blake also admitted it's "unlikely" he'll ever appear on another reality dating show again.
"I never say never, right? Never say ever. But I would say unlikely on the dating-show aspect of things," Blake explained.
"There's some other projects I'm working on [that are] wildlife-related, but for the most part, dating, I think I'll keep that to the real world."
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Blake told Ben Higgins and Ashley Iaconetti on their "The Ben & Ashley I: Almost Famous Podcast" in February 2022 that he was ready to put his romance with Katie behind him and put aside any hard feelings.
Blake also suggested last year that he's open to dating both women from Bachelor Nation or someone without fame and a social-media following.
Blake sparked dating rumors with Love is Blind alum Natalie Lee in July 2022, but it appears they were just working on a project together in Nevis to save sea turtles. Natalie reportedly took an interest in Blake's wildlife conservation efforts and decided to join one of his trips.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
