‘Alone’ Season 10: [Spoiler] Taps Out After a Frightening Medical Incident
And then there were five. Another Alone Season 10 contestant exited the competition in the July 6 episode of the History Channel survival reality series. The tap-out came after a frightening medical incident that could have put the cast member in serious danger.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Alone Season 10 Episode 5.]
Which ‘Alone’ Season 10 cast member tapped out this week?
The three-week mark has proved challenging for many survivalists in this season of Alone. So far, four people have tapped within a few days of each other. Lee Ray DeWilde (day 18), Ann Rosenquist (day 19), Larry Dean Olsen (day 20), and Jodi Rose (day 22). Lee, Ann, and Jodi were all dealing with extreme exhaustion due to a lack of food. Larry came down with a nasty gastrointestinal illness thanks to drinking unboiled water and eating two-day-old fish. He also missed his family, which prompted him to tap out.
When episode 5 begins, just six contestants remain. One is Cade Cole, a 28-year-old hunter from Wyoming. He suffered a major setback early in the season when he lost his quiver of arrows. Fortunately, he was able to fashion some handmade arrows. But the loss of his quiver made it difficult to implement his plan to hunt big game, which was key to his long-term survival.
Unable to kill a moose or other large animal, Cade has been struggling to get enough to eat. (Unlike most of the other Alone Season 10 cast, he’s chosen not to try to fish.) While he successfully kills a squirrel in this episode, the amount of food it provides is small compared to the calories he spent getting it, to say nothing of the bite he got on his hand when he climbed up a tree to get the animal.
By day 20, Cade has lost 10% of his body weight since the challenge began. He’s so hungry that he ends up cooking a piece of his leather belt in a soup of pine needles, mushrooms, and labrador tea in order to get some much-needed fat. It’s not enough. On day 23, he heads out to hunt, but he passes out while away from his camp. He’s out cold for nearly an hour but fortunately comes to before night falls and temperatures drop.
“I wanted it so bad. I just don’t think I can do it no more,” he says when he finally wakes up.
Cade Cole goes home, leaving just five ‘Alone’ cast members in the competition
An emotional Cade realizes he needs to tap out. The combined blows of his wife’s miscarriage (which happened shortly before he left to film the show), the lost arrows, and the challenges of surviving in remote northern Saskatchewan have left him depleted, both physically and emotionally. But giving up is not easy.
“I don’t want to quit,” he says through his tears. “I’ve been fighting so hard for this … sometimes your best is not good enough.”
Cade struggled, but other cast members featured in this episode fared somewhat better. Alan Tenta succeeded in catching multiple fish, while Mikey Helton caught a rat, which provided a small amount of food. Wyatt Black, however, lost two valuable fishing lures, putting him at a disadvantage moving forward.
All three are still in the competition, along with Melanie Sawyer and Tarcisio “Taz” Ramos Dos Santos. Who will go home next? Find out when new episodes of Alone air Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on History Channel.
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