Louisa McClintock was stretchered off Survivor NZ after a foot infection got infected.
Louisa McClintock was stretchered off Survivor NZ after a foot infection got infected.
Survivor NZ's youngest contestants say she still has bad days following her medical evacuation from the reality show.
Louisa McClintock, a South Island farmer, was dramatically stretchered away from her tribe and out of the game when a doctor declared her too sick to continue.
Host Matt Chisholm broke the news to McClintock's Mogoton tribe mates during last night's episode, telling them a foot infection meant she was "unfit to play".
Lou, centre, during her time with her Mogoton tribe mates on Survivor.
McClintock, 19, told NZ Herald she was so upset about leaving the show she hadn't been able to watch the episodes on television.
"It's a memory I don't want to dig back up again," she said.
"I've moved on with my life. It's in the past. Getting sick wasn't a great time for me (and) when something bad happens you don't exactly want to be reminded of it 24/7.
"I was absolutely gutted I got removed from the game. I feel like I haven't shown New Zealand what I'm capable of."
Her evacuation came at a terrible time for Mogoton, who had already lost several challenges and tribe mates.
They were down to just four when Chisholm order contestants to "drop their buffs" for a rejig during last night's episode.
But her elimination was the start of a long process of recovery for McClintock, who says her illness was caused when a cut on her foot got infected.
"I remember cutting it. I kind of went, 'Oh, that's nothing, a bit of blood'. I chucked a sock on it and hoped that it was going to stop ... I do remember it throbbing, I was like, 'Oh get over it Lou, it's just a cut'.
"That's what obviously triggered it, I can't say I kept it fabulously clean."
She fell ill three days later, and was seen looking lethargic and clutching her stomach around Mogoton's campsite before Chisholm showed up with a doctor.
McClintock refused to tell the Herald how long she spent in hospital in Nicaragua.
"The recovery time was quite long," she admitted.
"When I got back to New Zealand I went back into hospital and got better from there."
Lou competes during a challenge on Survivor NZ.
Despite returning to work on her parents' farm in North Canterbury, she revealed to the Herald there were days she still felt the effects of the infection.
"I do still have days where I feel like crap. I have quite a weak immune system and wear extra clothes when I'm cold."
It had also affected her diet: "It's put me off eating fish, because that's what I was eating when I was sick. I'm not going to touch fish for a while."
She admitted the cut to her foot was no worse than anything she'd done on the farm at home.
"I actually just cut myself trying to cut a cucumber. It was literally no different to that, there was just bacteria around that obviously I wasn't immune to."
Lou leads her Mogoton tribe mates.
Despite struggling to watch the show, McClintock says she made lifelong friends and didn't regret her decision to take part.
"The whole time, I asked myself, 'If my father saw me doing this, would he be proud of me?'
"That was a huge thing for me. I wanted to create a great impression for my family and friends."
