Suvivorman, Les Stroud Visits YTV

Survivorman came into the studio the other day.  He was promoting his new show “Survive This”.

As I did his make-up, I talked to him about how much I enjoy his show and how I think that it is great what he has accomplished.  He was very nice.

What I really wanted to talk to him about was how I too am an adventurer and working on my own television concept and the reason I am such a fan is because he is doing exactly what I want to do with my life.  I never did get up the nerve.

First of all, that would be very unprofessional as a persons make-up artist.  My job is to make people feel relaxed before their interview, to put them at ease and to talk to them about… well, frankly; them.

Second of all, how could a make-up artist possibly be as  hard-core as he is?  He is Survivorman.  He has been all over the world surviving extreme situations.

Hey wait a minute, Dave and I have been all over the world Surviving extreme situations.

I survived cellulitus, a serious infection in Tanzania.  I had the same knee infection as the guy on “Survivor” the other night. He gave up a million dollars to go home because it was a serious risk to his life.  Now, if I would have known just how dangerous cellulitus can be, I would have gone home myself. Fortunately the fates were on my side and I recovered from my ordeal without harm.

I have been eaten by leaches on the Head Hunters Trail in Borneo, lost in the Desert of Sudan, suffered a pretty nasty burn on my leg from a motorcycle accident in Thailand and have carried home 3 different types of parasites in my stomach at one time.  All while at the side of my husband who has suffered more than I have in many situations.

His burn was far more severe than mine from the motorcycle accident. We won’t even go into detail about how they cleaned his burn with a razor blade while he bit on a wet towel for the pain.  He was swarmed by fire ants in Guatemala,  had a terrible illness on an island in Honduras with the closest hospital being a day away by boat.  While riding his bicycle in Ethiopia, he was chased by baboons for several km and narrowly out ran them.  We were both feasted upon by bed bugs in Malaysia and Thailand, and we  slept with cockroaches crawling all over him while seeing the Pinnacles of Gunung Mulu National Park only to wake up in the morning and our hiking boots and gear covered with swarms of bees.

So, I am worthy of Survivorman. We are definitely not as extreme as he is, but we want to be. Really!  And when you put down it on paper, it looks like we have suffered a bit or two ourselves.

I really should have picked his brain more.  I should have asked some advice. Maybe I could have given him a little advice myself:-)  Ha ha, now I am dreaming.