And another Belo member bites the dust…
After Kellie Nalbandian‘s devastating blindside on November 15, several Survivor superfans were heartbroken to see Kendra McQuarrie following right behind her after another devastating blindside on November 22, leaving Katurah Topps, Bruce Perreault, and Jake O’Kane as the final three Belo members remaining.
After placing in the final three of the Immunity Challenge (as well as earning a reward at The Sanctuary alongside Julie Alley and Bruce Perreault), Kendra advocated for either Dee Valladares or Jake O’Kane to be the vote at tribal council that fateful night, however, she was bamboozled by her fellow castaways. Leaving with every single one of her tribemates against her, Kendra became the third member of the jury after a unanimous vote at the end of episode 9, joining both Kellie Nalbandian and Kaleb Gebrewold at Ponderosa.
Had she won the Immunity Challenge that day, Kendra would not have become the third member of the jury, but contrary to popular belief, the Colorado native was at a disadvantage for almost the entire game…
After taking a hard fall on the balance beam during the Reward/Immunity Challenge in episode 2, Kendra found herself with an injury that made it hurt to sit down, sleep on the bamboo, do the challenges, and more. “It hurt to do everything,” Kendra dished in an exclusive interview with Parade, prior to diving into what exactly this injury was, as well as how it negatively impacted her journey on Survivor 45.
When asked about the injury, Kendra McQuarrie exclaimed to Mike Bloom at Parade, “Your girl was hurting!”
She continued, “I started physical therapy a couple of weeks ago. I have a small fracture in my coccyx bone… Big girl come down hard on that balance beam. I stand at 5’10. That’s a big fall. I guess I didn’t really think about it that much day to day, because you’re so concerned with other things… Then the beers helped at Ponderosa once I got there. I was laying in the pool with my girl Kellie, just drinking beers and hanging out, so yeah, that made it feel a little bit better.”
While she “didn’t really think about it that much day to day,” the 30-year-old’s injury negatively impacted her game even more than she realized at the time. While she was not focused on her pain during her 17 days on the beach, Kendra admitted that in hindsight, she subconsciously altered her way of moving in order to participate in the challenges to the best of her ability, making sure to “tuck in [her] pelvic muscles and really engage [her] core during that last Immunity Challenge” to avoid any sort of unusual pain.
Revealing that she would black out during the Immunity and Reward Challenges on Survivor 45, Kendra admitted that her injury did not bother her while actually participating in said challenges, but she was “really, really sore” upon returning to camp.
“I had to take a lot of time for myself and kind of just be like, ‘I’m in pain,'” the castaway reflected.
While Kendra McQuarrie is already greatly missed on our television screens, we wish her a speedy recovery nonetheless — what a trouper!
To see how the rest of Survivor 45 unfolds, catch 90-minute episodes of the beloved competition series every Wednesday at 8pm ET/PT on CBS.