9 Things Terry Deitz Wants You To Know Following His Second Chance Exit

At the very start of Episode 6 of Survivor Cambodia, old schooler Terry Deitz was woken up by Jeff Probst in the middle of the night and told of a family medical emergency.

The rest of his tribe then went into shock and offered up warm embraces as he abruptly left the game to be by his sick son's side.

We were able to catch up with Terry and he shared insights about his son's condition since leaving Boston's Children Hospital, what it was like getting a second chance, and what it's like to be part such a tight-knit Survivor family. Read on!

"I first thought of my elderly mother and mother-in-law as we walked down the beach, and then [I found out] it was my son Danny and he was in the ICU in Boston. It scared the living hell out of me. He had just gotten his driver's license and I thought it was a car crash, so that's kind of where I was instantly.

Jeff Probst couldn't really put anymore detail into it—not until we got out on the boat."

"He's doing really well. The new heart's pumpin' like a champ. He's doing physical therapy, walking a couple miles a day, throwing a football once a week or so down with his football guys. [At the] Friday night football games he's gotta stay away from everybody on the sidelines out on the field and wear a mask and all that stuff because his immunity is just kind of gone right now. But he's really doing well and getting back into the swing of things.

Not once has he said, 'Why me?' He's a really strong kid and [it's] inspiring. He's made me a better man."
 

"It's weird. I don't have a lot of 20/20 hindsight, like last time. Would I have done anything differently? I probably would have been less over-confident with that first vote, thinking that our group had the numbers. That's what I would have done." 

"On the boat back, Dr. Eliza and Jeff go, 'So, Terry, I know you really don't want to talk about the game much, but you said you were gonna do two things when you came out here: prove yourself in the challenges and develop social or strategic game, and, in two weeks, you did both of the things you came here to do.' And I was like, 'Woah.'

Yeah, I proved myself in challenges. I did okay. And, arguably, in the first two Tribal Councils, we had the biggest strategic move of the game that I was part of and I got myself off the bottom. So that was probably the biggest thing."

"This Second Chance, in particular, I think will always—not only with me and other people—end up being about my son getting a second chance at life. That's the overall picture. 

Survivor itself is probably one of the coolest things I've done in my life. It's meant a lot to me. It's taught me a lot of things about myself and introduced me to some wonderful people.

To be honest with you, how wonderful that whole Survivor team and the whole Survivor family has really come to light because of this. People from all over the globe are calling, texting, and emailing me. I can't tell you how much support those guys have given us through this whole ordeal. It is a Survivor family."

"Kelley Wentworth has been playing a really good game, so far. She kinda keeps getting put in places she's gotta dig out of, but she's working it really well. She came back to prove that she alone could win Survivor and she's working hard at it. She's the kind of woman that, when she sets her mind to it, she will get what she wants.

Abi-Maria Gomes could possibly go a long way. I think Tasha Fox is playing pretty good. I think Jeremy Collins is playing a good game and as evidenced last night, he's kind of keeping some people in line. Even Stephen Fishbach is getting a little antsy and [Jeremy's] like, 'Dude, chill out.'"

"[They're] night and day. I was very confident in who we had on board and that made me feel good, but the night part of it was watching some of the other people flit around.

They're playing the game different these days with more of that Big Brother social strategic stuff. There's not the Survivor part of it."

 

"Yeah, and that all depends on my son's health and where I am in my flying career. It's all timing. 

Like, this one, for instance, sort of came up short notice. Had Danny gotten sick a month earlier, none of this would have happened. 

So, given that the timing was right, yes, I would go back."

"I hope to see my fans on one of my airplanes flying around the country or flying around the world. I'm actually flying to Milan tonight, so maybe I'll see somebody who watched me on TV last night. Who knows? That's always fun.

Survivor continues to amaze me. People that were on this show, again, they're family. It just goes to say that it is a game, but people realize there's a family behind it." 

Watch all-new episodes of Survivor Cambodia on Wednesdays at 8/7c.