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Survivor Tocantins Top Chef 5

Jeff Probst caught camera operator who had a seizure; Tom Colicchio performed Heimlich on author

by Andy Dehnart 9 Mar. 2009 | 8:27 am

For the second time this year, a reality show personality has helped a person having a medical crisis.

Last night at the Academy of Magical Arts Awards (what?), Survivor host Jeff Probst caught and helped a camera operator who had a seizure while filming him. “She fell into my arms, basically. She had a seizure and she didn’t know it. When she came back to she said, ‘I’m fine,’ and she had no idea. Then she had another one,” he told E!’s News’ Kristin’s minion, who reports that after the second seizure, Jeff helped again, “catching her, holding her and lowering her to the ground. A few minutes later, she came to and tried to get up, and Jeff held her head steady and explained that she needed to stay put until the ambulance arrived. He stayed with her until medical personnel arrived at the scene.”

Jeff was humble about it, saying, “I think anybody would react to that. That’s just another person in trouble. Anybody would do that. It’s amazing how quickly you can get into trouble.”

Tom Colicchio, too, is humble about the way he saved a woman’s life, which he discussed during the Top Chef 5 reunion. Last month, Cookbook author Joan Nathan choked at her own party, and Tom performed the Heimlich Maneuver.

Tom told Time magazine, “It all happened so quickly. I was literally three feet from her. I was having a conversation with somebody else. She came in, and I looked to my right and I saw her holding her throat and two people next to her patting her back. And I walked over, put my arms around her and said, ‘Can you talk?’ She said no. I hit her once. I asked her again. She said no. I did it again, chicken came out, and that was it.”

Jeff Probst’s Real-Life Survivor Skills Help Woman [E! News]
Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio [Time]

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about Andy Dehnart

Andy Dehnart’s writing and criticism about television, culture, and media has appeared on NPR and in Vulture, Pacific Standard, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications. He has covered reality television for more than 18 years, and created reality blurred in 2000.

A member of the Television Critics Association who serves on its board of directors, Andy, 41, also directs the journalism program at Stetson University in Florida, where he teaches creative nonfiction and journalism. He has an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing and literature from Bennington College. Learn more about reality blurred and Andy.

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reality blurred is your guide to the world of reality TV and unscripted entertainment, with reality show reviews, news, and analysis. It was created in 2000 by Andy Dehnart. He's still writing and publishing it today.

reality blurred is regularly updated with highlights from the world of reality TV: news and analysis; behind-the-scenes reports; interviews with reality TV show cast members and producers; and recaps and reviews of these reality TV shows, including Survivor, Big Brother, The Great British Baking Show, Shark Tank, The Amazing Race, The Bachelor, Project Runway, Dancing with the Stars, Top Chef, and many more.

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