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‘Survivor' Castaway Brady Booker Reveals Shocking Fate of Severed Thumb After Jury Exit
Brady Booker may have lost much of his thumb on Survivor, but he left with a new accessory.
After the professional wrestler was eliminated from the competition series, he shocked viewers during the Nov. 11 episode by exiting the jury so he could receive medical attention for his severed finger. But now he’s sharing how the chopped off “quarter” of his thumb was able to make it home to the U.S. from Fiji—and revealing its unusual fate.
“It was sitting in a cooler,” Booker told Parade in a Nov. 11 interview, recalling what happened to his partial thumb in the days after he was voted off season 51 on Day 14. “And then when time arose, when people started asking questions about it, they asked me what I wanted to do with it.”
“There was kind of a talk that you can’t bring flesh across international waters; I guess I never really thought of that,” he continued. “As white as it was at the time, it kind of looked like a scallop still in the shell, so maybe we could pass as that.”
But instead of the 27-year-old’s severed thumb being reattached to his hand, it was turned into jewelry.
“They ended up putting it in some resin, putting it in a necklace,” Booker revealed. “When I got back, we put a clasp on it.”
The shocking reveal came after host Jeff Probst shared Booker decided he wasn’t going to be able to outwit, outplay and outlast on the island as a member of the jury, becoming the first player to leave the jury in show’s history.
“First, a little business,” Probst explained to the players on the Nov. 11 episode. “Last night, immediately following Tribal Council, Brady asked to go home to tend to his injured thumb. So, Brady is out of the game. He’s gone, and will not be a member of the jury.”
While Booker’s historic decision to leave Fiji was on Day 14 of the competition, his now-infamous injury occurred 10 days prior.
It was on the fourth day of the competition—which was chronicled on the Sept. 30 episode—when Booker accidentally cut off a “quarter” of his thumb while chopping firewood with a machete.
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After acknowledging this “stupid” mistake, he detailed what went down while being looked at in the medical tent.
“I was just splitting some wood to get to the dry center with the axe," Booker explained to the doctor. “Had a little corner of my thumb, that little corner right there, and I just lopped it off. I truly feel like I can still compete and hopefully, we can do something.”
His wish was granted, with Booker expressing his relief that he was given the all-clear to continue after his thumb was wrapped.
“When Doc told me I can still be in this game, it was like a new life," he reflected. "Sure, it's still a little numb, but I can touch all the fingers. I can touch the far end. I can clap. I can grab. Sure, Brody, pain exists. But I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all.”
And while he was ultimately sent home—with a new necklace—he’s far from the only castaway to face a rocky journey on the island. Keep reading for a closer look at all of the players on Survivor 51…
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Cristian Chavez
From Salt Lake City, the 25-year-old works in Human Resources.
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Kristin Flickinger
The 49-year-old is a crisis management professional.
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Mike Pinsky
The 32-year-old New Yorker works in sports.
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Jenna Doore
Doore, 30, is a wedding photographer.
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Maggie Nestor
Nestor, 40, is a West Virginia farmer.
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Rob Antonson
The 40-year-old is an airline gate agent.
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Sharonda Cox
Cox, 34, is an OBGYN.
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Brady Booker
Booker, 27, is a pro wrestler from Tennessee.
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Ana Sani
Sani is a voice actress from Toronto, Canada.
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Devin Way
Way, 33, is an actor who currently resides in Los Angeles.
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Aaliyah Puglia
Puglia is a 24-year-old chef.
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Danny “Kilby” Kilby
The 30-year-old hails from Ontario, Canada, and works as a video game designer.
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Carter Krull
The 24-year-old is an Iowa farmer.
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Angelica “Jelly” Loblack
The 29-year-old teaches sociology.
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Lewis Kelly
Originally from Ireland, the 28-year-old now lives on a farm with his wife in Puerto Rico.
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Eric Macksoud
The 34-year-old is a mental health counselor.
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Ori Jean-Charles
The New York native, 27, is a personal trainer.
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An “Thien An” Nguyen
Hailing from Texas, the 24-year-old is currently in medical school.
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Patt Cannaday
Cannaday, 33, is a criminal prosecutor.
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Linnea Capobianco
The 25-year-old entrepreneur hails from New Jersey.
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Alexis Levine
The Georgia native, 34, is a criminal defense attorney.
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