“I had to have help going to the bathroom and walking for the first time in my life,” says Sean Jacobs. “It was the universe’s way of giving me something that I needed to experience.”

Outlast: The Jungle player who fainted into fire reveals what happened after cameras turned off

"I had to have help going to the bathroom and walking for the first time in my life," says Sean Jacobs. "It was the universe's way of giving me something that I needed to experience."

By Dalton Ross

Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. *Survivor* is kind of his thing.

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June 15, 2026 2:33 p.m. ET

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Sean Jacobs on 'Outlast: The Jungle'. Credit:

- *Outlast: The Jungle* competitor Sean Jacobs explains what happened that caused him to collapse into the fire.

- Jacobs recounts his grueling recovery process, including something he would not wish on his worst enemy.

- The evacuated contestant gives props to the on-site medical team who treated him: "It was amazing how safe I felt in that process and how taken care of I was."

Sean Jacobs thought he was in it for the long haul. He was part of the rock-solid team Bravo on Netflix’s *Outlast: The Jungle*, and the group had wisely selected fire as their special item for the game. However, that fire would ultimately be Sean's undoing.

In a scary scene, the 39-year-old fitness business owner from Tampa, Fla., fainted into the fire on day 8, suffering second- and third-degree burns over 25 percent of his body. Gruesome footage showed skin peeling off Sean's legs. "Skin was peeling off like you were boiling a cucumber," noted teammate Marshall Strain.

It was eerily reminiscent of what happened to Michale Skupin on season 2 of *Survivor* (*The Australian Outback*) when that player also fainted into the fire and was medically evacuated after burning his hands.

Sean was immediately pulled from the game and taken away in an ambulance, with bandages all over his arms and legs. as he implored his teammates to stick together and not give their ferro rods for fire away.

Since the accident was only partially captured on camera, what truly went down out there that caused Sean's injury? What happened to the player after he left in that ambulance, and what was the recovery process like? And how does he think he would have done in the game had he not been medically evacuated? ** caught up with Sean to get the inside scoop on all that and more.

Sean Jacobs on 'Outlast: The Jungle'.

Jose Mandojana/Netflix

**: What happened out there? Because we don't really see it except for that one obscured camera angle.**

**SEAN JACOBS:** It was a flash, and it really didn't make a lot of sense in the moment because I felt fine. I mean, obviously I'm on a survival TV show and I'm pushing myself as hard as I can, so you're on the edge of what your comfort zone is physically and mentally. I enjoy that. So I wasn't really expecting something like this.

I was actually stoking our fire, and it's a humid environment with 100 percent humidity and it was raining all the time. And so that morning we were trying to shift our fire around because after a while you've had so much wood turn to ash, we gotta scrape it out kinda like your fireplace, right? So we were shifting it and we were trying to rebuild it. We were all thirsty. It was our first pot of water in the morning and it was just rotated.

So I was trying to get it going, and it took me about 45 minutes to get it going. Marshall, Pharaoh, and I were talking about high school football and sharing stories and having a great time. I felt good. So I'm in a squat and I stand up too fast, and I was out, and that's when I fell on it. But the time between me falling and being pulled out was arguably less than five seconds. And I'm the happiest man in the world, to be honest with you, because it could have been so much worse. I may not have a left leg right now.

So Marshall pulls me out and I come to immediately and I'm like, "What just happened?" I just got dragged out of the fire, stood up and everyone was looking at me like, " What did you do? " And I'm like, "I don't know. " So I freaked out and looked down, and my skin was peeling off my legs.

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**What was going through your mind when you looked down at your body?**

To be honest with you, the first thing I thought was, "I'm out. I'm f‑‑‑ing out. I'm leaving the game." I was walking around. I was moving around throughout this whole process. I'll just say this flat-out: I never was fearful for my life. I know it was a very serious situation, and I knew I would be taken care of. I had zero doubt of that.

The pain hadn't started yet, and I was still in shock. This was within like 30 to 45 seconds after me getting up. And I just started screaming the F-word. I was like, "You gotta be f‑‑‑ing kidding me!" We were doing so well, we were the strongest team on the game board, we'd been working really hard, we had formed some amazing bonds. These are friends I'll have for life, and I was so ready to go for another 60 days, and I knew I was leaving.

**I know sometimes there are crew around and sometimes there aren't depending on the time and day. Was there anyone there when this happened?**

I was taken care of immediately. The medic was hanging out with us. He was there and we had staff and we were good. It was just: What are the next steps at that point? It wasn't a situation where I was really worried about being taken care of. It was just like: "Tell me what to do. I don't have any experience with this."

And obviously I fell into dirt, sticks, sand, and so much stuff was in there, and so the medic walked me to the beach. It's a very shallow beach, so I walked 50 yards out into the ocean through the sand churning up and I just kind of floated out there trying to lightly get some stuff out of there and just have an existential moment in the oceans of Panama.

Then it was like, "All right, let's get you out. We got most of the stuff out. Let's get you in some full water. Now we gotta get the higher-level equipment ready for you to be transported. So we're just gonna get you cleaned up and just wait for everything to get out there." This could not have happened any better because it was low tide. We had everything we needed. The chopper was able to land. No issues.

There were plenty of times during the game where we're just like, "Hey, somebody stay back and watch the fire while we go forage." And if it had happened when no one was at camp, just to think like the serendipity of having my team there and Marshall and Pharaoh on me like that, it's wild. And so that's why I've got nothing but gratitude for the show, the team, my crew on Bravo. Everything I've gone through, it just could be so much worse. I've learned a lot about myself in life and this process, so I've got nothing but love and no regrets.

Sean Jacobs, Marshall Strain on 'Outlast: The Jungle'.

**What happened once they put you in the ambulance and got you out of there?**

I went to the Panama clinic, which is arguably the nicest hospital I've ever been in in my life, and I spent four weeks getting my burns cleaned and monitored and making sure I didn't have any infections. I had some amazing casting managers with me the whole step of the way. Like, it makes me emotional. [*Starts to tear up.*] I was fully taken care of. I've never felt so much love from people that don't know me very well in my life, and the nurses, the doctors… It was amazing how safe I felt in that process and how taken care of I was.

I had to be put under anesthesia six times to get them clean. Thank goodness, because at the end of that process I had to have my bandages removed and cleaned not under anesthesia a couple times, and that's another experience. And I don't ever wanna go through that again or have my worst enemy experience that.

You know, nobody wants to sit in the hospital for four weeks and go through that or learn how to walk again. I'm a coach and I've been athletic and trained and done sports and been very capable in my body for years, but I had to have help going to the bathroom and walking for the first time in my life. It was the universe's way of giving me something that I needed to experience. Because I asked for a challenge. You don't do shows like this if you don't want to challenge yourself. Is it always what you want? Maybe not, but you need what's given to you, and I agree with that.

Morgan Colburn, Abby Chu, Sean Jacobs, Pharaoh Gayles, Marshall Strain, Mary Wedell on 'Outlast: The Jungle'.

**They said there were burns over 25 percent of your body. Where was it the worst, your legs?**

The left leg was what hit the boiling water and got the most of it. Again, I got so lucky. On two fingers, skin was coming off the left hand. The back of my right hand— you can kinda see the discoloration — the back of the hand just looks a little darker. It was the back of this [right] hand and up the forearm — basically wrapped around my whole forearm — was coming off. And then there was a spot up here, and then I had a bunch of splash marks or maybe some stray embers had marked just different stray marks on my right leg.

So it was 25 percent. They were all second-degree, didn't need any skin grafts. It was just such a big burn on my left leg that covered my thigh all the way down to my foot, that that was the hardest part because that basically became one large scab for four to six weeks. And so I'm all on my right side, can't walk, had to learn how to bend the knee and the ankle again and all that stuff, obviously. You know how a scab on a joint feels? It's miserable, right?

So the left leg was the worst. I got a gnarly dragon-shaped elephant-skin scar on that side, but I'm 99.9 percent [good]. I’m gonna get some scar treatment, so I'm trying to loosen it up a little bit because it is a little itchy and tough at times, but I got my leg and I'm back to training and doing everything, so I'm good.

'Outlast: The Jungle' cast.

**What was it like watching it back on TV and seeing your skin just falling off your body?**

During the recovery process, I saw some gruesome stuff on my own body and kinda had to live in that, and I will never forget those experiences. But I will say I was looking forward to seeing it and processing it. I don't wanna run from something like that. I wanna feel how I feel and have the new version of myself see the old version of myself and come to grips with that transition and a new experience of who I am. And I was looking forward to that.

But the one thing that got me was hearing my screams and just processing that and what that was. You could hear it in my voice that I had no idea what was going on and I was just out cold. And what was even worse than that was having my wife watch that, having my family watch that, and having to watch that reaction. I don't wanna have caused that. I don't wanna cause that kinda hurt, you know? I don't want anybody that I love to have to go through something like that. And they're just upset because they don't want me to go through it.

So it's a tough thing, but we watched it together and I'm glad I got the process. How often do you go through something that's super traumatic like that and actually get to relive it on international television?

**Are you still in touch with any of your Bravo teammates?**

Oh yeah. I love Bravo to death, and obviously love a lot of the cast. You trauma-bond with the people that are on your crew and anybody who goes through this whole experience. We've got a group chat with, like, eight to 10 of us right now, we're just loving reliving everything and seeing it climb up to number one on Netflix.

'Outlast: The Junge' cast.

**I guess this is the million-dollar question:  How do you think you would have done in this game had you stayed?**

I feel like I can hang. I feel like I would still be in the mix. There's no question with that. And with that said, I hope I get another shot at redemption to prove myself in that. But I went out there thinking I was gonna be able to hang with whatever they threw at me, and I feel like I would 100 percent still be in the mix.

Now, with that being said, this game offers a lot of different challenges that a lot of other survival shows don't offer. So I don't know how those things would have played out. Those are complexities that we can't necessarily wrap our heads around when those situations happen. We don't know what's gonna happen in a game that keeps you on your toes like that. So physically, mentally, I would've been there. I would've been there for my team, and I would've been ready to run circles around that island until I passed out. No pun unintended.

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