‘Survivor’ Alum Shares Near-Death Experience

YouTube Survivor

“Survivor” alum Alec Merlino recently shared that he had a near-death experience while traveling abroad. Alec appeared on season 37 of “Survivor,” commonly referred to as “Survivor: David vs. Goliath,” in 2018. He was a member of the Goliath tribe and was voted out on day 28 of the competition.

Alec Had a Near-Death Experience

On November 18, 2021, Alec shared a video on his YouTube channel titled, “THE DAY I ALMOST DIED…(SICK AND ALONE).” In the video, Alec told fans he was diagnosed with a serious illness while traveling in Cambodia.

The “Survivor” alum left for a six-month trip to Southeast Asia after receiving only one dose of the necessary vaccines. In the video, he explained it’s recommended to receive a second dose before traveling.

He told fans he was willing to take the risk, stating, “Well, I might as well just get everything, and if I get sick, I get sick.”

Alec said that one day after a few months of traveling, he started to feel sick.

“I don’t know if you guys have ever had that feeling where you know you’re about to get sick. You can feel it in your body,” he said in the video.

Alec told his YouTube subscribers that he started to feel feverish and was lying in his bed when his mom called. He explained his symptoms to her. His mom got in touch with the owner of the hostel Alec was staying at, and shortly after someone showed up at his door to take him to the hospital.

He shared his experience at the hospital in the video, stating, “I’m in this room by myself. They’re doing more bloodwork. They’ve got IVs going in me. Two IVs dripping in me. I’m kind of freaking out. I’m like holy crap. I have no phone. I have no connection to anyone.”

Alec told fans that a doctor came into his room and said his white blood cell account was abnormal.

“[My] white blood cell count was at 27-28 thousand. Normal white blood cell count is supposed to be at 4-6 thousand,” he said. “When you have that many white blood cells, it’s fighting something gnarly.”

It turns out Alec had typhoid fever. According to the CDC, Typhoid fever is a life-threatening illness caused by bacteria. It is most common in parts of the world where food and water may be contaminated, and sanitation is poor.

Alec told fans that the experience was scary given the death rate statistics.

“Typhoid fever, if you don’t have proper care, [the] chance of death, is 30-33%,” he explained.

Alec said he is lucky his mom checked up on him. “Damn, what if I had never called my mom and told her I was sick. What if I went to bed and my fever got gnarly. Could I have died? Probably,” Alec said in the video.

Alec Ran an Ironman

In a November 2021 YouTube video, Alec shared with subscribers his experience running his first ironman.

In the video, he recapped running the triathlon. He broke down the different components of the race, sharing with fans his technique during the swimming, biking, and running portions of the race.

He also shared that he plans to run more triathlons in the future.

“I’m going to take these triathlons extremely seriously. Keep my nutrition absolutely on point. I’m gonna be training really hard,” he said in the video. “I have four ironmans, maybe five in the year of 2022.”