Who is Sean Jacobs? ‘Outlast: The Jungle’ player opens up about falling into fire on Netflix survival show
What looked like a routine attempt to keep a campfire alive turned into one of the most frightening moments of ‘Outlast: The Jungle’. Sean Jacobs, a 39-year-old fitness business owner from Tampa, Florida, entered the Netflix survival competition expecting a long stay in the game. Instead, he left by ambulance after collapsing into the fire and suffering severe burns. Jacobs was part of Team Bravo, a group that had chosen fire as its special survival item. The accident occurred on Day 8 of the competition, and viewers saw only part of what happened before medics rushed in to help him. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Jacobs explained that, “So I was trying to get it going, and it took me about 45 minutes to get it going. So I’m in a squat and I stand up too fast, and I was out, and that’s when I fell on it.”
He said the entire incident happened in seconds, “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.” Jacobs also admitted that his immediate reaction was realizing his game was over. In his words, “To be honest with you, the first thing I thought was, ‘I’m out. I’m f******g out. I’m leaving the game.’” He then revealed, “I was taken care of immediately. The medic was hanging out with us. He was there and we had staff and we were good.”
According to Jacobs, the fall left dirt, sand, sticks, and other material embedded in the wounds. Medics walked him to the beach and into shallow water to begin cleaning the burns before preparing him for transport. “This could not have happened any better because it was low tide. The chopper was able to land,” he said. After leaving the game, Jacobs was transported to a clinic in Panama, where he remained for about a month while doctors treated second- and third-degree burns covering roughly 25% of his body. “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,” Jacobs stated.
“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,” he added. Fortunately, Jacobs said the worst is behind him. “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,” he said.
