For those of you have watched Survivor on CBS every Wednesday, you have probably seen a woman by the name of Eva Erickson on the Lagi tribe. Eva is the first openly autistic contestant on the show. She already shared her story with one of the cast mates Joe who was originally on Lagi but got moved to the Vula tribe. She told Joe about how the doctors said she would never live independently or hold a job and at most she could hope to marry someone else who's autistic. But her parents refused to give up and now she is in mainstream not just with school but on a hockey team at Brown University. Eva said there may be moments where she could get overwhelmed and she needed to have someone in the game that she could trust and help her when she has episodes where she gets overwhelmed. In the last episode after the challenge before Tribal Council, Eva did have an episode when she got frustrated and after completing the challenge saving her tribe she was overcome and was full of emotion. Jeff Probst, the host noticed Joe was looking at Eva knowing what was going on and Probst asked if Joe wanted to give her a hug. He accepted and reminded Eva to take deep breaths and he held her hands because Eva said that helped her when she gets fixated.
After the challenge, Joe said that he wants to be an example to his kids and have them be the kind of person he wants them to be and that's why he helped Eva even if that meant exposing a relationship in the game. Eva shared her story with the whole cast and the floodgates were open even for Jeff. He called it a beautiful moment, and I for one agree. I was on the verge of tears because I couldn't help but see myself in Eva. I too can get frustrated on certain things and I might need help and comfort from people too. Eva is in my opinion a big inspiration to those who are autistic and I hope she gets far on the show if not wins the million dollars. Watch the clip to see the whole thing. Word of warning: you may need tissues.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbgXyK9CHZ0
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