Former Survivor Palau contestant Jennifer Lyon lost her battle with breast cancer Wednesday.
Lyon, 37, was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer at the age of 33 in 2005, a few months after finishing fourth on the show.
In the summer of 2004, Lyons felt something in her right breast but didn’t see a doctor because she didn’t have insurance and figured it was only scar tissue from breast augmentation surgery.
“It was right along the ridge of the implant, so I let it go, and I let it go for a long time,” she told People in 2005. “And it really wasn’t changing much. But a year later, I felt another lump, and then I felt something under my armpit.”
Lyons had a double mastectomy and underwent chemotherapy and drug therapy.
“I was basically clear,” Lyon told People in 2008, “but then my blood levels, my blood sugar markers, started going up, and they did some scans and found [cancer] in my bone, the backbone, which is a very common place for it to metastasize. It’s not all good news, unfortunately.”
Survivor host Jeff Probst reconnected with Lyon several years ago and stayed in touch with her during her cancer treatment.
“Her wisdom about how to live a life with quality seemed to grow with each passing day,” he said in a statement.
After being diagnosed, Lyons said in an interview that the show helped her stay strong.
“Survivor taught me there’s an end in sight,” she said. “As hard as it is, it will be over and you have to appreciate every day.”