Alone Australia contestant’s terrifying evacuation from the show

“I really thought I was going to die”: Australia’s most extreme reality show just got way too real for one terrified contestant.

A contestant on the current season of survivalist reality series Alone Australia made a scary exit from the game in this week’s episode, collapsing at his camp and pleading for urgent medical help.

NSW resilience coach and father-of-three Mike, 60, is the oldest player in this year’s game, which puts 10 survivalist enthusiasts in the remote New Zealand wilderness with a simple instruction: To survive in the wild for as long as they can. The last person standing will win $250,000.

Contestants are dropped across a vast stretch of wilderness without even a camera operator to film them – they must shoot all their own footage. They’re given a satellite phone to radio for help in case of an emergency, which will only arrive via a lengthy boat ride.

In frightening scenes, during his second night in the bush, Mike was shown on camera collapsing at his campsite, complaining of chest pains and desperately radioing for help.

The medical boat (pictured) races through the darkness to find Mike.

The show’s medical team arrived via boat, pulling in to his camp in the darkness. As they carried out their initial assessment, Mike explained the “really intense” pain had been persisting for a few hours and was worse when he was lying down.

“I think what we need to do is have you checked out properly, because you will need to have an ECG,” the show’s doctor told him.

Doctors tend to Mike after he called for help.

Mike’s face fell as he knew what this would mean: His elimination from the game.

“I was just scared when it happened,” he told the doctors once on the boat. “It’s a long way away by yourself, isn’t it?”

“At my age, whenever you think about chest pain, you can’t help but think it might be something drastic. What is my limit – have I reached my limit? That’s why I made the call.”

Mike breaks down as he confesses he thought he was going to die.

The show’s doctors said Michael’s signs looked “pretty good” on the boat, but they would take him to hospital for further monitoring.

As they heded back to civilisation, Mike broke down.

“I’m so tired … I was so scared. I thought I was going to die,” he tearfully admitted.

“I really thought I was going to die.”

Mike was the first contestant to leave the game this season, with nine players left. Last year’s winner, Gina Chick, lasted 67 days in the Tasmanian wilderness.

Alone Australia continues 7:30pm next Wednesday on SBS.

Originally published as Alone Australia contestant’s terrifying evacuation from the show