On the 13th day of Survivor Cambodia: Second Chance, host Jeff Probst walked into camp, and the first thing he said to Terry Deitz was, “Your son, Danny.” Probst didn’t know the details, except that Terry’s son was very sick and he had to go home immediately.
A former Navy Pilot, Terry Deitz first participated in Survivor in 2005 with Survivor Panama. He had a great streak in the game (discovering the Hidden Immunity Idol and earning immunity for five consecutive times) but was unfortunately voted out before the Final Tribal Council. So, he took the seventh and final spot on the jury for that season.
He knew he could do better than finishing third, and he definitely had what it takes to win the game. In fact, at the live Reunion Show, Jeff polled the jury on who they would’ve voted for if it was Terry and Danielle at the Final Two. He got five out of seven, but Danielle didn’t hold her end of their deal, and he got dropped.
Ten years later, he was given a second chance to redeem himself on Survivor Cambodia. Unfortunately, that was cut short. In an interview with PEOPLE, he talked about the whole story behind his abrupt exit.
“Worst Moment Of My Life”
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Jeff Probst’s presence was always ominous, and his news was never good. So when he went to get Terry from the shelter, and they walked down the beach, the pilot didn’t know what to say.
In his head, he was running scenarios. His mom and his mother-in-law were both 85, so he was worried that something may have happened to them.
Then, when the host opened his mouth and said his son’s name, his reaction was, “Oh, my God.” The first thing he thought was that his son Danny had just gotten his license – “Did he get in a car crash?” He was so afraid that he was going to hear the word “dead,” and he described that moment as the worst moment of his life.
However, Probst didn’t know much due to HIPAA laws, so they were kept in the dark. All they knew at that moment was that Danny was sick and it was serious. He knew he must forfeit the game and go home with his family. Even though he waited a decade to be in it again, it just didn’t matter.
So, the host and the team took over, and the cameras stopped rolling. He hugged his tribemates goodbye, got on the boat, and Jeff handed him his phone and told him to call his wife, Trish.
He FaceTimed them and got to see their faces, but unfortunately, he still didn’t know what was happening. They rode another boat to the mainland, and that was when he got his itinerary.
Terry remembered Jeff taking his hat off his head and giving it to him to take to Danny.
After reaching the mainland, he headed off to a hotel, where he spent two hours getting all cleaned up since it would be a very long trip. He then jumped on an SUV for a four-hour ride to Phnom Penh, the country’s capital.
Following that was another three hours on the plane to Hong Kong. Then, before his 16-hour no communications flight to Boston, he got to talk with his family one more time.
That 16 hours was one of the longest 16 hours of his life; he had nothing to do but sit in his seat thinking of what he’d arrive to. Thankfully, he wasn’t alone, as the company psychologist, Dr. Eliza, went all the way to Boston with him (then she turned right around and went back to Cambodia). After a double scotch, he finally slept for a couple of hours.
What happened to Danny?
Keep Danny Deitz in your thoughts and prayers today as he receives a new heart @deitz_terry #DannyStrong pic.twitter.com/q8kkSO6UlF
— Jim Early (@TheGameSurvivor) September 10, 2015
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Trish and Danny had just eaten lunch at Panera (while Terry was out on a remote Cambodian beach battling it off with his fellow castaways). Danny didn’t feel right, so they immediately went to a doctor.
Initially, the doctors thought he was experiencing bronchitis. However, when they took him for an X-ray, they discovered something else: His lungs were clear, but his heart was definitely enlarged. They sent him to the ER, and everything just happened so fast.
As it turned out, Danny had dilated cardiomyopathy, and it started to present right after Terry left for Survivor. The young Deitz didn’t have any previous health problems before that. “This is the kind of thing that you hear about athletes who fall down on the field and never get up,” Deitz said.
How’s Danny doing after everything?
‘Survivor Cambodia’: Terry Deitz Gives Emotional Update On Son Danny https://t.co/1Q4ouBifVf pic.twitter.com/gOntvA94EH
— Fan Portal (@ThePortalFans) October 29, 2015
Danny spent 79 days in the hospital, and then he got a heart transplant. Terry said the new heart was “pumping like a champ.” After that, they would visit every two weeks to get a catheter in his neck.
To ensure that the new heart would go on and work healthily for a long time for his son, his immune system was suppressed so as not to attack it since it was still considered a foreign body by his body.
They were grateful that Danny had been given a chance at life. However, they also acknowledged that it came at the expense of another family’s tragedy. So, they prayed for his donor and the grief that they and their family went through.
After this ordeal, the team at Survivor talked about raising awareness for organ donation on the show. It was a way to let people know that they could offer the gift of life.
Aside from that, he and Trish also started a fund named Danny Strong to raise funds for research at the Children’s Hospital so that they would be able to save more lives.
Terry Deitz’s chances of winning Survivor have been abruptly cut, but it was still definitely a good journey. The most important part was that Danny was safe and healthy. “Survivor has been such a big part of my life, but it’s nothing compared to my family. Life can turn on a dime.”