What Happened to Jake Latimer on 'Survivor' Season 49? Inside His Shocking Exit
"I'm so grateful to God that I'm still here."
Published Oct. 9 2025, 9:58 a.m. ET
Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Season 49, Episode 3 of Survivor.
Every season of Survivor comes with unexpected twists, but few compare to a real-life emergency. When a player suddenly vanished from the island in Season 49, fans were left anxious and confused. It wasn’t strategy or elimination that ended his game. It was something far more dangerous.
Viewers quickly began asking what happened to Jake Latimer, the Kele tribe member from Canada, after medical staff rushed in during Episode 3.
What followed was one of the most shocking and historic moments in Survivor history.
Left to Right: Matt Williams, Jake Latimer, and Jawan Pitts
Jake Latimer became the first 'Survivor' contestant removed from the island due to a snake bite.
According to USA Today, Jake Latimer, a 36-year-old correctional officer from Saskatchewan, was bitten by a venomous banded sea krait while sitting by the ocean on Day 6 of Survivor Season 49. The medical team immediately responded, evacuating him from the beach to a nearby base camp for treatment and evaluation.
Fortunately, the snake did not inject venom into Jake’s system, which was a stroke of luck host Jeff Probst later called “the worst case scenario avoided.”
Despite fluids helping him stabilize, the attending doctor determined it was too risky for Jake to return to the island’s harsh conditions, leading to his removal from the game.
Jake said in an Instagram post after the show aired, "I think God works in mysterious ways. I was able to make it home for the birth of my child. It's very hard to watch the other contestants go on because I want to be there. I want to do my job and keep my tribe strong. I'm so grateful to God that I'm still here. I'm healthy, I'm happy."
The Survivor team showed the full medical evacuation for the first time.
As reported by Gold Derby, producers made the rare decision to show every step of Jake’s evacuation, taking viewers inside Survivor’s medical basecamp for the first time in 49 seasons.
Jeff explained that the team wanted audiences to “experience it the same way we did," in real time, with all the tension and uncertainty.
The footage included doctors and nurses assessing the bite, Jeff arriving at the scene, and production coordinating an air emergency transport in case Jake needed additional care. Jeff said the medical care team for the show is incredible, noting “within minutes, we had ascertained that it was a sea krait bite, and Jake was already on a boat heading to our medical facility.”
Jake’s emotional exit and message to his tribe.
Jake’s final words to his Kele tribemates, Sophia “Sophi” Balerdi, Jeremiah Ing, and Alex Moore, were full of emotion. He told them he loved them and hoped they would reach the Final 3 together. The moment left his teammates and the viewing audience in tears as Jeff informed everyone of what had happened before the next challenge began.
Jeff reassured the cast that snake bites of this kind are extremely rare in Fiji, saying sea kraits “usually just want you to go away.” Still, he noted that the incident took “a physical toll and an emotional toll,” especially since Jake was an expectant father at the time of filming.
Jake’s medical evacuation marked the first time in Survivor’s 25-year run that a player was pulled from the game due to a snake bite. While his journey ended sooner than anyone hoped, his composure, strength, and love for his tribe made a deep impression on fans.
Even though he didn’t get to play the full game, Jake’s story became a reminder of the unpredictable challenges, both physical and emotional, that make Survivor more than just a competition.