***WARNING: The following article contains graphic content. Viewer discretion is advised.***
“Survivor 51” contestant Brady Booker accidentally severed part of his thumb with a machete while chopping wood during the latest episode of the show.
Booker, who is a 27-year-old professional wrestler, was working at the Toka tribe’s camp in Fiji when the accident happened during Wednesday night’s episode of the CBS reality competition series.
“Dammit! That was stupid,” he said.
Booker retrieved the severed thumb tip and showed it to his tribemates.
“There it is,” he said as he picked it up off the ground.
A fellow contestant held it in a seashell while Booker waited for medical assistance.
Booker worried that he would be removed from the competition due to the injury. At one point, he started crying as blood gushed from his hand and his fellow castaways consoled him.
The show’s doctor cleaned and bandaged Booker’s injury, as well as gave him antibiotics to prevent an infection. The doctor determined Booker could continue competing and he went on to dominate in the challenges, as he helped the Toka tribe win both the reward and immunity competitions.
“I truly feel like I can still compete,” he said.
Booker later said he was grateful to stay in the game despite pain and numbness in his thumb. He also asked the medical team to show the severed piece to “Survivor” host Jeff Probst, who confirmed in episode notes that he saw it.
“That’s another ‘Survivor’ first,” Probst said.
“Survivor,” which has a long history of injuries and medical evacuations, airs Wednesday nights on CBS.