Original subtitles

[ bats chittering ]

cass: This cave's ridiculous.

Shannon: [ gasps ]

left or right? It's hard to say.

It's so disorienting in here.

Right looks a little bit easier.

I want to get out of here.

Oh [bleep]

[ splashing ]

oh [bleep] ugh!

Narrator: Two strangers...

One man and one woman, both experienced survivalists,

have chosen to put their skills to the ultimate test.

Just one victory, please!

They have no water, no food, and no clothes.

Their challenge is to survive for 21 days...

Aah! I don't want to go home.

...Knowing that the human body

can only live three days without water

and begins to shut down after three weeks without food.

Get out of there!

This is the everest of survival challenges.

Can a man and woman

survive alone in the wilderness naked and afraid?

Shannon: We're in the jungle.

There's so many things that want to kill you.

Narrator: Located at the western end of hurricane alley

in the caribbean

sits one of the most hostile environments on earth.

Jaguars and aggressive howler monkeys

stake out their territory among the toxic trees of the jungle.

Swamps teem with disease-carrying mosquitos,

blood-sucking ticks, crocodiles, and deadly boa constrictors.

Five days earlier, epic storms engulfed

much of this nation beneath record flooding.

A saturated landscape,

limited food sources, unforgiving predators.

This is belize.

Cass: Jungle's beautiful,

but definitely one of the harsher environments.

Pretty scary so far.

My name's len cassidy.

I'm from philadelphia, pennsylvania.

I'm a former army soldier and police officer.

I pride myself in my tenacity, my never-quit kind of attitude.

The army put me in a lot of situations

that were very difficult.

But in the military,

we have a lot of technology that we lean on.

In this situation, I don't have anything to lean on

but my own mental toughness and the skills that I know.

I didn't really know what to expect before I came

because I haven't spent much time in the tropics.

One thing I know to expect is some measure of suffering.

I'm shannon thomas.

I'm a mother of two.

I'm a wellness consultant and a yoga teacher.

Succeeding out here is not just important for me,

but I'd love to do it for my kids.

If I can survive these 21 days

and connect with this completely foreign environment,

I'll show them that they could do anything.

The environment is really diverse,

which is always a good thing in a survival situation.

My key strengths are working with plants.

I'm pretty skilled with wild edibles,

wild medicinals, and using plant materials as tools.

I'd love to have a partner who is a primitive hunter

and a team player.

Cass: Being naked around a strange woman

in the middle of a jungle, it's gonna be a little weird.

I like my clothes.

I'm really enjoying wearing them.

I'd like to get to the other side of that little hurdle.

Cass: I hope being naked's not a huge issue with her.

I'm used to being around, like, guys being naked in the army,

not chicks.

Shannon: Here goes.

The full nudity element,

that's gonna be one of my biggest challenges out here.

Going in naked, both to the elements

and to the world is unprecedented in my life.

Hello. Hey. How's it going?

Random naked person. Yeah, I know.

Shannon. I'm cassidy.

Nice to meet you. Just call me cass.

Yeah, I didn't see any other naked women around,

so I guess...

You're assuming I'm your partner?

Yeah, I think you're my partner.

I think that's a safe bet.

Cass: First impression, shannon seems very skinny and thin.

I know what it's like to be hungry

and go a long time without food.

I hope she has what it takes to do it.

Narrator: Shannon and cass have each chosen

one essential survival item.

Oh, I'm so excited.

I have my really, really heavy-duty survival knife.

Hell yeah.

I brought a magnesium fire starter.

Oh, thank goodness.

It's been so wet. That is the most useful thing.

In addition, they've been given personal diary cameras

to document their own point of view.

My partner for the next three weeks.

A small crew will capture the 21-day journey

with clear instruction not to intervene

unless there is a medical emergency.

And we also have our map.

This must be where we are now.

The map shows that cass and shannon

have been dropped off in an area of wide open savannah

near southeast belize.

If they trek three miles north through the flooded jungle,

they'll seek out a safe, dry location

to set up their base camp.

If they make it to day 21 of their survival challenge,

the only way to get to their extraction point

will be a dangerous journey through an ancient cave system,

home to bats, snakes, and lethal drop-offs,

to arrive at a clearing

where they'll be rescued by a helicopter.

Let's go find some shade. That's right.

Continue on our awkward nakedness

in the middle of a foreign jungle.

Careful. That's spiky. Watch your feet.

I'm a mom. That's my main gig.

How many kids you got? Two.

Yeah, I have four.

Oh, my goodness.

Yeah, three boys and a girl.

It's never quiet in my house. No.

So you get to come out here and get some peace and quiet.

Yeah, this is a vacation.

[ chuckles ]

so, cass, what do you do back home?

If you weren't naked, what would you do?

I was a professional soldier.

I was regular army.

Nice.

I'm a health coach and yoga person.

Oh.

Shannon: Cass and I are really different people

from really different walks of life.

And so, the most important thing to do is find our common ground

because I know that he is

the number-one most important tool that I have

to survive this experience.

Narrator: As part of their selection process,

cass and shannon have undergone rigorous physical

and psychological testing.

Their overall survival assessment

has been evaluated by experts according to three categories --

skill, experience, and mental toughness.

Cass' military background

has prepared him mentally and physically.

But his lack of primitive survival skills

counts against him.

Shannon has extensive experience

with primitive survival situations

and her skill with plants gives her a high score.

But her lack of physical strength may hurt her.

Shannon and cass have each been given

an overall primitive survival rating or psr.

Cass scores an overall psr of 7.2 and shannon 6.9.

Our experts will reevaluate their psr

at the end of their 21-day challenge if all goes well.

Man, it sucks being barefoot.

Shannon: Yes. We are a little exposed.

Ouch.

Cass and shannon began their 21-day journey

on the first dry day in more than a week.

Rainstorms that have flooded the lowlands

have forced many insects, snakes, and deadly predators

to higher dry ground.

Shannon and cass will have to do the same.

Watch out for the ants.

Oh, my god, I hate this swamp.

Cass: My idea is to focus on some pretty good shelter

and, of course, fire.

Are you thinking, like, cave or what?

I'm a little leery of too big of a cave

because, you know, other things want it

and it's been so wet.

Everything's displaced. Yeah.

[ gasps ]

what? Ow!

I feel like every step I'm taking there's spikes.

Be careful.

Watch that thing underneath that log.

I've been bit by snakes.

Oh, my goodness. Yeah.

Not a big fan of snakes.

I want to take some of that.

What is it?

I think it's agave.

I can make all kinds of stuff out of it.

These are sharp as hell.

Yeah, they are.

[ blows ]

what can we use it for?

We can use it to make rope and string and lashings.

Oh, good cordage and stuff? Yeah.

Cass: Biggest thing that I've learned when it comes to survival --

it's about risk versus reward.

How many calories am I gonna burn to get whatever it may be.

Oh [bleep]

I don't think it's worth it. Let's find one that's closer.

I'm just afraid -- this is the first one I've seen.

Oh.

Three weeks is a long time.

I don't know how our personalities will clash.

Sometimes you have to put your stuff aside

to get the mission accomplished.

I figure we get where we're going, you know what I mean?

Yeah, I'm willing to say that's good.

She's the total x factor in this,

and if we don't get along then it's gonna be horrible

just the two of us together, alone for three weeks.

We're running out of light.

Do have to get to some type of shelter.

Yeah.

I'm at the mall right now

carrying all your stuff you're buying.

I always wanted a man there to do the heavy lifting,

army boy.

What do you think?

I mean, we could do up or we could keep going...

Look at the limestone.

There's got to be a cave around here.

We're right up against the face.

Holy smokes, man. Totally!

My god! That is badass.

Well, should we explore it?

Let's go check it out.

Dude, are you kidding me?

I was thinking it was like this big open mouth.

Oh, my god. Yeah, it's dark.

I didn't realize it was like this cave system.

It goes deep, too. Yeah, it is.

Oh, man.

Something's in there. Yeah, it is.

No.

That scrambling we heard must have been him moving back.

Yeah. Or he's got a secondary exit.

Right. Most animals do.

Cass: Yeah. Oh [bleep]

a bat just flew at my face.

Narrator: The cave that shannon and cass have discovered

is part of a labyrinth of prehistoric limestone caverns.

Over millennia, the unique geology of belize

has produced one of the largest limestone cave systems

in the world.

These mysterious wonders are overrun with rabid bats,

reptiles, and scorpion spiders.

Once thought to be the home of a mythical underworld,

the ancient mayans explored this tangled network

of ragged rock and sinkholes thousands of years ago,

leaving behind the skeletal remains

of those who ventured in but never came out.

Cass: So, what do you think?

We got shelter. Shannon: I think so, too.

Shannon: I'm not sure how warm we're gonna be,

but we're in a place that's dry.

We're gonna work on getting the fire started.

Cass: Everything around here is wet.

I just need one little piece to catch.

That's all I need.

Oh, son of a gun.

[ sighs ] I had it.

Our first night, the unknown is a little scary.

Fire will keep the bugs, animals, and wildlife away.

That's my hope.

Yeah, baby.

Prime.

It's great to have fire.

Now we got to keep this sucker fed.

I'm a little worried this is gonna be a tricky thing

keeping this going.

Shannon: So, we have fire now

and we have a nice little sheltered area.

But I think it's gonna be a hard night.

We set up our camp on the edge of the cave

because we just don't know what's in there.

We don't know what to expect from it.

[ bats chittering ]

[ rustling ]

something's in there. Yeah, it is.

[ gasps ]

[bleep] is that?

Oh, man.

Cass: Something's over there.

Sounded big, too.

Shannon: [ gasps ]

[bleep] is that?

Oh, man. It wasn't a snake.

Other than there, we don't have light to find out what it is.

It's pretty scary.

We're gonna be up all night making sure this fire's good.

Narrator: Shannon and cass began their 21-day survival challenge

on the hot and humid savannah of northeastern belize.

After an exhausting three-mile trek through the flooded jungle,

they made their way to higher ground

and discovered an ancient limestone cave system.

Realizing they were not alone,

they endured a sleepless and painful first night in the wild.

Ticks in my freaking eyeball lid right here.

So annoying.

They bite hard, too.

Last night was the worst night.

Neither of us got any real sleep.

Lot of weird noises from the jungle.

We heard, like, something larger than, like, a small rodent.

And there's these small ticks that just ate me alive.

Shannon: Did you feel like it on the under?

No, inside.

Like in here, this area.

Like, it's, like, pinches.

He's in the lid. Like right in the eyelashes.

I felt two of them and they hurt when they bit.

They like crevasse-y parts of the body.

[ groans ] [bleep]

[bleep]

damn these [bleep] things.

I don't even want to entertain where I have bugs and ticks.

There's too many.

But the one's trying to get in my pee hole, I got those.

Narrator: Cass and shannon have now gone over 24 hours

without a single drop of water.

And with temperatures rising, dehydration is setting in.

Shannon: There are three different kinds of vines in belize

that they call water vines that you can drink from.

It's not a long-term solution,

but it might be a short-term solution

to our dehydration today.

[ sighs ] that's hard.

You getting any?

Little bit.

Probably not worth it.

This is a little frustrating

because I'm seriously dehydrated.

And a few drips is not gonna account for that.

I really need to drink about a gallon of water

to get my equilibrium back.

Cass: [ sighs ]

[ groans ]

that was worthless.

You have to cut so many

and you burn so much energy cutting them.

We're definitely overheated and dehydrated today.

It's been very hot, and we can't go days without water.

I'm just thinking about what is the most immediate option.

I was seriously thinking about just suck up water off leaves.

I don't really want to drink this calcium stuff in the cave.

Yeah.

Shannon: There's water that flows down from the roof of the cave.

It flows through the rock.

But we know that it has calcium and other minerals in it,

which could cause, you know, kidney stones.

We don't know how long the water was underground,

if it's fully purified.

It's a bit of a risk.

But without water, you're getting close

to really all your systems shutting down.

Narrator: After almost 30 hours,

having failed to find an adequate source of fluids,

cass and shannon face a difficult decision.

We need water. Okay.

We have no choice.

Once we get water in our system,

we'll feel, like, 100% better.

Yeah, we will.

Sometimes you got to take a risk.

It's about surviving.

Two days from now,

I might be really horribly sick.

But it's a risk I have to take.

All right. That'll get me through.

We've been drinking the water for days now.

So far, haven't had any issues.

Urine's been regular, everything's going good.

And I'm not dehydrated, which is huge.

Being dehydrated was horrible.

Yeah.

Just living off of water and not getting anything else,

no protein, fats, sugars, nothing,

our energy's, like, dropping real fast.

We really need food.

There isn't anything in this freaking swamp.

Narrator: As cass and shannon return to the jungle,

they are competing with the region's apex predators

who are equally in need of food

since the recent flooding forced them to higher ground.

[ monkey howling ]

that's loud.

Up in that tree. See it?

Howler money.

Oh, I'd love to get one of those.

[ money howling ]

I feel a little out of breath and faint.

Why don't we take a break?

It's not gonna get better until I eat food,

so I'd rather just move forward with the food plan.

Let's keep our eyes open.

Shannon: At this point, I have that painful hunger feeling

like where your stomach is clenching

and you're desperate for food.

[bleep] is that?

[bleep] hey.

It's a paca. It's huge.

[ monkey squeals ]

shannon: What was it?

It's huge. It's like a fat groundhog.

Really? Like we could eat a lot?

That sounds awesome.

Narrator: The paca, known as the queen's rat,

is one of the largest rodents in the world

and can weigh over 30 pounds.

High in calories, paca meat was once so prized

that according to ancient legend,

only mayan kings could raise and eat them.

Oh, man.

I think we should set traps. Okay.

Seeing the paca and know it's, like, a tangible thing,

all I want to do is really get eyes

on where it possibly might have been.

Think like the size of a flattened basketball.

It's big.

I'm gonna eat the [bleep] thing.

Shannon: This is the most basic trap design.

It exists in almost every indigenous culture.

It's called a figure four.

It's a deadfall trap.

So, you take three pieces of wood.

Essentially arrange them in the shape of a four.

And then you put a big rock.

And then when an animal comes up and nibbles on it,

it pushes and the rock falls, hopefully,

and crushes it into our next food source.

Cass: This one's intact, but they got the bait.

So the figure four didn't catch.

They got the bait though.

I've been hearing tons of activity at night,

but it's hard getting these things with deadfall traps.

They're not stupid.

I'll tell you.

Hunting primitive for certain animals,

it's like really, really difficult.

I stalk and go out every morning.

I just haven't had any luck with any sizeable protein.

Hey, I see a snake.

Holy [bleep]

narrator: Cass has encountered the yellow-jawed tommygoff,

the most dangerous snake in south america.

Extremely aggressive,

its venomous bite inflicts unbearable pain.

The hematoxic venom causes massive internal bleeding

and rots flesh.

Without treatment, death can follow in 72 hours.

Cass: Yeah, I see you.

I want this snake bad but I'm still cautious.

I don't know all the snakes here.

I don't want to get bit by the wrong snake.

[ sighs ]

how's it going, man?

[ groans ] what's wrong?

Almost had a snake.

Tried to pin him. He was under underbrush.

He was owning that land, not me.

I thought there'd be one viable food source.

I did, too. Just one.

I know. It's just -- the thing that alarms me

is just the length of time we still have out here.

I thought by the time we had been here a week,

we would have locked something in.

I thought that, too.

Pretty pissed off.

There's just nothing easy about the food in this area.

Everything's out of my reach.

It's too fast or too high.

I'm letting food get through my fingers, too,

so I'm a little aggravated about that.

[ monkey howling ]

it'd be so good to kill a monkey.

It'd be a lot of meat.

That thing's up [bleep] high.

Stupid [bleep] animals. [bleep] food.

Aah!

[bleep]

aah! Aah! [bleep]

[ monkey howling ]

ah, it'd be so good to kill a monkey.

It'd be a lot of meat.

Just he's up [bleep] high.

Aah!

[bleep] aah.

Aah! [bleep]

you sons of guns.

Shannon: Monkeys are aiming, man.

Look how high he is.

It's not easy to get food out here.

People see the jungle on tv.

There's just food everywhere and there's bananas and --

it's not like that, all right?

This is [bleep]

now I'm starting to feel weak.

I'm out of breath just if I stand up.

So my body's starting to react to the fatigue.

Really amazing to me how much trouble I'm having.

I'm a runner. I do yoga. I'm pretty fit.

And I know that it's because I'm not eating.

Oh, I'm tired.

I just feel like I'm running low now on ideas.

[ thunder rumbles ]

oh, my god.

Of course it's [bleep] rain.

I don't know how it's gonna be tonight.

[ thunder crashes ]

shannon: It's cold, man. It is cold.

We're outside. The wood's wet. It sucks.

We're gonna be up all night making sure this fire's good.

If we lose that fire, we're [bleep]

I know.

It's like the only hope we really have in this place.

Narrator: It has now been over a week in the jungles of belize

since cass and shannon have had anything to eat.

The rainstorm shows no signs of letting up.

Their chances of finding any food look very slim.

Going out in rain like this

naked and fully exposed is just...

No, I feel cold.

You get cold, yeah.

So, I'm not sure what to do.

With temperatures dropping

and not enough calories to fight off the cold,

cass and shannon run the risk of developing hypothermia,

a dangerous decrease in core body heat

that can lead to mental confusion

and even cause vital organs to shut down.

Cass: This fire's been so difficult.

Wood's very wet now.

This is the dry stuff you can find.

I'm burning a lot of calories.

It's worth it.

It keeps her from being cold,

keeps the animals, bugs off us a little bit.

I'm more mindful of shannon's status than me.

Coming into this, I just had so much more weight.

You know, I'm doing more of the heavy lifting.

I will stay up late and tend the fire.

I know shannon's not getting food.

In a way, I feel kind of bad about that, you know?

'cause I want to hunt and kill things,

but the trail's real wet and slippery.

There's very limited gains.

I'm just keeping an eye on her.

Let's get some heat on you.

[ sighs ]

[ thunder rumbles ]

I got a feeling this is how it's gonna be until we're done.

I know you're hungry.

I am. I just want the rain to break.

Narrator: After four days of unrelenting rain,

cass and shannon are so desperate for food,

they decide to scavenge the depths

of the ancient mayan cave they've been using as a shelter.

Cass: One thing we haven't really done

is in detail explore the caves.

We hear animal sounds.

Who knows what we're gonna find in these caves.

There's a lot of big animals in this area.

That print's the size of a kid's hand. It's huge.

Yeah, they're everywhere.

Shannon: We're pretty desperate to get some meat.

Let's do this.

We need something.

You going this way? Yeah.

Not ready.

Whoa.

Do you see anything yet?

Hmm?

[ sighs ]

this is dark as [bleep]

it is hard to see.

Do you see anything?

There's some pottery shards

just inside the mouth of the cave.

Damn, I just wish there was some [bleep] food.

We don't want to scare those out.

This is crazy in here, you know?

It's very narrow.

We can't get through.

This is a [bleep] labyrinth.

Left or right?

It's hard to say. It's so disorienting in here.

Um...

Right looks a little bit easier.

Ow! [bleep] be careful.

There's a huge [bleep] cliff.

I don't like this.

Oh [bleep]

ow [bleep]

[ gasps ] oh [bleep] bats.

Ow! [bleep]

bastards.

Aah!

We need to get out of here.

[ bats chittering ]

oh [bleep]

ow. [ gasps ] bats.

Narrator: On day 11, cass and shannon decided

to brave the dangerous belizian cave system...

Aah!

Cass: We need to get out of here.

...But failed in their search for food.

Whew.

Man, that was so draining.

10 days from now, they'll need to find their way

through the very same caves to their extraction point.

Just rip our hearts out of our chests, why don't you?

[ sighs ]

I hate that cave.

Cass: Exploring the caves was a huge eye-opener for me.

The last day, that cave,

it's gonna be hard and harsh and hostile.

And I worry about our getting to the end of this.

We just don't really have anything left.

In the military, you always save a little.

If we don't hunker down soon or figure something out,

then we're not gonna have enough energy to walk out of here.

[bleep]

I'm dead, just so you know.

I'm done. I could tell.

I could barely get up this [bleep] rock walkway thingy.

Mm. I smashed my foot.

Like, I'm making mistakes. I'm just tired.

Shannon: Cass isn't doing that well overall.

These [bleep] vines are...

His mood's not the same

and he really is lagging in energy.

I'm not going on any stupid treks for nothing.

I'm [bleep] done.

From the beginning, he kept saying, "I have more reserve."

well, I think he's burned through it.

All right.

I'm gonna go try to kill something big and giant

for us to eat. You got it.

He's definitely sacrificed a lot

to help me move through this on a physical level.

I need to get myself together for him.

Ouch.

My concern from the beginning

was, "do I have the physical fortitude

to do this for 21 days?"

the thing that really keeps me going,

I have two main motivations -- my two kids.

I want to have an experience

that I could be proud of sharing with them.

Is there a snail right there on that round...?

Yeah.

Look at this.

Did some thinking about why I'm doing this

and why it matters that we get food to get through it

and really put it out there to the universe

to give us what we need so that we can do our 21 days.

Want one? No.

What do you mean, no?

That's just way too small.

You need it a lot more than me.

Well, it's just clear to me that you're suffering.

I'm just tired. I'm exhausted.

Well, that is suffering.

I really think you should eat it.

I don't want to eat it, shannon. Seriously.

I think there's a part of him

that has kind of surrendered to the suffering of this experience

and is willing to just wait it out now.

I want him to make it to the end with me.

We have to have food between now and then

or we're not gonna be able to make it to the end

and we're not gonna be able to make it to the extraction.

[ spits ]

it is day 16.

I do not feel well.

Um...

You know, just getting weaker and weaker.

Oh, and of course I'm having trouble breathing.

Narrator: In a desperate attempt to conserve energy,

cass hunkers down and rests.

It now falls to shannon to look after both of them.

In her weakened state, shannon sets to gathering firewood

and scrambling for whatever food she can find,

taking shannon close to her breaking point.

Shannon: [ grunts ]

[ panting ]

a couple times I've had little declines out here.

I'm having one today.

This is the roughest.

Lack of energy and sleep...

It all compounds to this, to the end.

I don't have the energy to do a lot.

Me neither. I'm not gonna [bleep] you.

I don't either.

Yeah.

These are gonna be the worst, hardest days

physically and mentally on us.

We have to try and try through it.

[ sobs ]

shannon. Shannon.

[ crying ] look. Look.

[ sobs ]

[ sniffles ]

hey, I feel [bleep] there's no food.

I know, but you're getting weaker, too, and I don't want --

yeah, but you picked up the slack for me.

I wasn't feeling great. I'm feeling good.

We've been carrying each other and helping each other out.

Cass: I'm very concerned about shannon.

She burned herself out.

It's very scary.

I don't want to finish this by myself.

I don't want her...

Not to make it and not be there by my side.

[ grunts ]

oh [bleep] are you okay?

Yeah.

Did you get -- are you okay?

Yeah, just got lightheaded.

Time for just sitting by the fire is over.

I need to still try and search for food

and whatever I can get will get us through to the end.

That's my hope.

[bleep]

aah! [bleep]

[ sighs ]

I'm doing stuff to make sure she's okay

'cause she's my partner.

That's what sometimes you have to do, you know?

I have her back.

[ crying ]

it's just hard. I'm so [bleep] weak.

It's like, ugh.

This is probably the last trek I got in me.

This is it. This is all or nothing.

I keep thinking that I'm gonna turn a corner

and there will be a -- ooh, what's that?

Holy [bleep]

shannon: I just hate the jungle.

Cass: I do, too.

Narrator: Shannon and cass are two and a half weeks

into their 21-day survival challenge

in the hot and swampy jungle of belize.

Before they began, they were both given

a primitive survival rating or psr.

Early on, shannon underestimated the physical demands

of surviving this unforgiving environment,

lowering her psr.

Cass' psr has also been reduced

because of his failures to provide food

that he and his partner desperately need.

With four days left until their extraction,

they still have time to improve their ratings.

Oh, my god.

All right, let's see if we can just pop you off.

[ thunder rumbles ]

cass: This is probably the last trek I got in me.

Narrator: With his strength and stamina declining rapidly,

cass has once again ventured out in search of protein.

His and shannon's chances for completing

their 21-day survival challenge rest on a knife edge

with this last-ditch effort to find food.

Cass: I'm not gonna have enough energy probably

to do too much more after this.

I'm so weak, it's like, ugh.

Oh, man.

I keep thinking that I'm gonna turn a corner

and there will be a -- oh, what's that?

Oh, my god. It's a boa.

Holy [bleep]

I want to try and pinch him off.

I need the food so bad.

But I don't really have a ton of energy.

A boa will wrap up and can actually kill you.

Are you kidding me?

I do not want to get bit by this thing.

[bleep]

that's a strong-ass snake.

[ grunts ]

want to fight me [bleep]

get the [bleep]

there. Now he's dead.

Oh, my god.

This is gonna be great for shannon.

She's gonna love it.

That's amazing.

Oh, man. We're lucky.

Oh, let's get back.

Shannon's got a snake to cook up.

All right.

So, good news is...

Oh, my god. Holy [bleep]

you did not.

It's a belize jungle worm.

You did it. I'm so excited.

Me too. Thank you.

Shannon: Cass getting that boa today

makes a world of different to us.

We were both literally starving.

Our bodies are eating themselves.

Cass: I've been starving just like she has been.

Just I'm pretty good at hiding it.

I wanted to make sure she was good to go.

And it probably tastes better than anything I've eaten

for a long, long time.

I'm, like, literally, like, tearing up right now

I'm so happy.

It's ridiculous. Just eat.

Oh, my god.

What?

I just want to like, hug you and kiss you right now.

I'm so happy. [ chuckles ]

I'm totally gonna hug you.

Oh, my god. You're my hero.

Shannon: Having something so substantial and so satisfying

when you're starving -- nothing is better than that.

Nothing.

We really needed this. We needed it bad.

Hopefully this gives me and cass

enough to get through to the end.

All right. So, let's get our stuff, okay?

[ sighs ]

cass: It's our last day.

We are getting ready to leave

to go through the cave towards our extraction point.

All right.

I'm ready to get the hell out of here.

Yeah.

Narrator: Cass and shannon will now have to find their way

through the labyrinth of treacherous limestone caves

to get to their rescue helicopter.

Shannon: The biggest concern we have,

it was really trippy when we were in the cave the other day.

There are lots of bats

and there are places where the rocks drop off.

We could fall or bad things could happen.

Shoot. I'm out of breath.

We don't know how far we have to go to get to the other side.

But if I'm struggling, he'll help me.

And if he's struggling, I'll help him.

That's been the way that we've gone.

[ wind whistling ]

cass: I'll never go in a cave like this.

This is where we got scratched up, remember?

Which way?

Oh [bleep]

[ gasps ] watch your step.

This cave's insane.

Ow. [bleep]

oh [bleep] are you okay?

Yeah.

It's slippery.

Here's that drop-off.

Oh, my god. Look over there.

It's safer. Here?

[ snap ]

ooh. [bleep]

oh, I banged my camera and it went off.

Where are you?

I'm telling you there's literally no light.

To the left.

Oh, my god.

Here, let's stick close together, cass.

Narrator: With shannon's diary cam broken,

they'll now have to rely on the infrared light

from cass' camera to find their way out of the darkness.

Be careful.

You got to step up and you have a low ceiling.

Okay.

Oh, this is deep.

I don't like this.

Nice and easy.

Feel with your stick.

Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Oh, my god.

I see light.

Look at this!

I didn't know if I had it in me.

[ sighs ]

it's [bleep] thick.

Disturbs me. [bleep]

I just don't really see anything real clear.

Narrator: Cass and shannon have made it out of the caves

only to face a steep uphill climb

through the unforgiving jungle.

[ grunts ]

shannon: This is above torture.

Oh [bleep]

[bleep]

shannon: I feel like I really don't have any reserves left.

Overwhelming fatigue and just general misery.

Ah [bleep]

we have a little bit of an opening area.

Oh, my god.

[ chuckles ]

feel that.

Oh the sun feels so good. Oh, my god.

[ chuckles ]

come on. We're [bleep] done.

All right. Let's look for our bird.

Whoo! Hey! Over here!

Hey!

Come on!

Man: There they are. I see them.

Get us out of here!

How cool is that, huh?

Oh, my god.

Ready to do this? We finally made it.

Shannon: The thing that we just accomplished is so huge.

Knowing that the other side of that accomplishment

is our families, our friends, food.

I mean, it's a huge relief.

[ chuckles ] you ready? We're done.

I would say the ultimate high point for me

was getting to know cass.

He was far more motivated by my needs

than he ever was his own.

I think we formed a relationship

that is probably going to stay with us.

Nothing compares to how grueling or hard this was.

We relied on each other a ton,

which is what you do with your partner,

and it turned out to be a great winning team.

Ready for this?

It's changed me in a lot of ways.

It probably changed me in a lot of ways I don't even know yet.

But all for the good and better.

Shannon: This experience was by far the deepest

and the most profound wilderness experience I have had.

Whoo!

And it was a great gift to be able

to weather the challenge and come through the other side.

Narrator: After 21 days in the jungle of belize,

shannon and cass have endured mental and physical hardships

that have changed them both forever.

Shannon lost a total of 20 pounds and cass, 21.

Experts reassessed each survivalist's psr

based on how they performed

in this most unforgiving of environments.

Cass' stubbornness while holding out for bigger game to eat

almost jeopardized his survival chances.

But he demonstrated a high level of physical and mental fortitude

when his partner needed it most.

Early on, shannon miscalculated

the difficulty of this challenge,

but her support for her partner enabled them as a team

to successfully complete their grueling 21 days in the jungle.

This brings cass' psr up to a 7.4

and shannon improves to a 7.1,

proving they both have what it takes

to survive naked and afraid.

Cass: The jungle's no joke. It will eat you up and spit you out. That's for sure.

-- Captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by discovery communications