Survivor Reality Star Jennifer Lyon Dies
The third runner-up (fourth place) on Survivor Palau in 2005 has died. Jennifer Lyon was in her home on Tuesday night when she passed at the age of 37 from breast cancer. A representative from the CBS network, the host of the show, confirmed the tragic news.
Lyon had been diagnosed with the cancer only a few months after finishing the reality show, and it was already at stage 3. She chose to have a modified, radical bilateral mastectomy with courses of chemotherapy and tamoxifen, which prevents recurrence.
Shortly after finding out about the cancer, Lyon talked to media about feeling something wrong in her right breast in summer 2004. She thought it was just scar tissue related to getting breast augmentation surgery, so she let it go for a long time.
However, Lyon wasn’t completely brought down by the disease, as her time on the CBS competition series helped provide inner strength and boost her spirits to battle the cancer. She said in the same interview that Survivor taught her that there’s an end in sight, and you have to appreciate every day even though it’s hard.
Lyon’s castmates from the show remember her as courageous and kind - the model of grace, according to Ian Rosenberger. Jeff Probst has even wrote his story about her and her struggle with the terminal cancer, with some help from her family.
Despite taking on the illness, Lyon hosted many breast cancer research fundraisers, becoming an advocate for awareness of the disease. Her most recent contribution was a Christmas tree lot that handed over all the proceeds to the cause.