Survivor 50's Kyle Fraser has revealed an update on his injury that left him with no choice but to be medically evacuated from the game.

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After spending only one night at Ponderosa, Kyle said he immediately "flew back" to the United States.

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"I landed back in New York, probably within 30 hours. And then I had to go to the doctor immediately that morning," Kyle told Parade.

"They confirmed it was a torn Achilles. So I then got surgery as quickly as possible, which was, I think, three to four days later. And then I started the recovery process, which I'm still in."

Kyle, who won Survivor 48, injured his ankle during the first Individual Immunity Challenge of Season 50 on Day 3 when he attempted to climb a wall by himself, after his tribemates had used each other as human ladders to get to the top.

Kyle fell to the ground because he couldn't put pressure on his ankle, but didn't appear to be in terrible pain. A Survivor medic, "Dr. Joe," cleared Kyle to resume competing, but then he gave Kyle a check up on Day 4.

After conducting an ultrasound and other tests, Dr. Joe told Kyle -- who insisted he was feeling "significantly better" -- that it was highly he had severely damaged, or maybe even "completely ruptured" or "snapped," his Achilles tendon.

"Often, it will need an operation," Dr. Joe explained to the castaway, "but sometimes, without an operation, it will need a minimum of three months physical therapy, either way."

Both Dr. Joe and Survivor host Jeff Probst warned Kyle that continuing the game would risk permanent damage, and so they decided to pull him from the game so that Kyle wouldn't spend the rest of his life walking with a limp.

After Kyle underwent surgery in New York, he said he had to wear a boot and didn't walk for two months.

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"It took me about three months to get into two shoes. I think I'm eight months in right now. I probably just started running about three to four weeks ago," Kyle shared.

"I could have ran a little bit earlier, but my physical therapist didn't want to chance it. And it'll probably be another two months before I'm whole, which means athletic stuff, sprinting, jumping, doing these things."

Kyle said he's going to physical therapy three or four times a week.

"I've been learning a ton about myself, because it's an injury where you have to push yourself through a lot of pain every single day," Kyle admitted.

"It makes you very vulnerable. And I stayed in the gym. I'm the strongest I've ever been in my life, and I think I'm better for it in a lot of ways."

Kyle said that after he injured himself, he desperately wanted to stay in the Season 50 game and potentially become a two-time Survivor winner.

"I tried to keep my cool, but all I could think about was staying in the game. So I was trying to project that I was okay as much as possible, not only to production, but to my tribemates," Kyle confessed.

"And that was really difficult for me to do. It's really painful. But I was optimistic that first day [post-injury]."

Kyle said it wasn't until he woke up in the middle of the night that he was "in a ton of pain."

"And it just hit me like a wave of reality, like, 'This could be something very serious... I might not be here anymore.' But then I kicked back in the morning [of Day 4], and I started playing."

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He added, "I kept those conversations going. I told them, 'Hey, I'm going to do everything to stay here.' My tribemates are like, 'Bro, we're not voting you out.' And you just have to convince yourself sometimes that it's going to be okay."

But Kyle couldn't do enough to convince Jeff and Dr. Joe that he was going to be fine.

"Jeff and I argued for, I want to say, 15 minutes when he came to camp. And not a blowout argument. But I was like, 'Hey, man, I'm a lawyer. I'll sign a waiver,'" Kyle recalled.

"When he brought up, 'We have legal duty,' I was like, 'Well, I'm a lawyer!' When we got into the irreparable harm sort of scenario, I brought up [James Clement]. I said, 'Listen, James got his torch stuffed. There's precedent here. That's a torn ACL; his tribe got to make that decision at the end of the day. I think my tribe should make the decision.'"

Kyle said he made that argument knowing his tribemates wouldn't have voted him out.

"And it was a loving argument. Jeff really knew that I wanted to stay there. But ultimately, they made the right decision. Because this thing could have kept curling up, and it could have been even worse," Kyle conceded.

Although Kyle's ankle is still healing, he said he's extremely happy to have gotten the chance to be a part of Survivor's milestone season.

"I was letting myself be more of myself [this time around]. And I think people saw me for who I am, and I haven't had that in the world that quickly ever," Kyle shared.

"And so I mean, I'm a Survivor winner, I'm a Survivor loser, and I'm proud of both of those statements. Because both of my experiences have been life-changing in completely different ways."

Kyle also told Entertainment Weekly in a separate interview that he's learned "a ton" from this injury.

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"I've come out completely stronger. I'm stronger than I've ever been. My wife is pregnant, we're expecting a girl in two months," Kyle gushed.

"I have a new job. I'm a music attorney now for a major record label. And you saw me playing that game. Life is only on the up and up."




About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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