Past Survivor Winner Ethan Zohn Battling Cancer
Ethan Zohn
Just as the latest Survivor celebrates his victory, a previous winner is sharing bad news: Soccer player Ethan Zohn, who won Survivor: Africa, tells People he is battling cancer.
"This is the ultimate game of Survivor," Zohn said, "and there's really only one outcome, and that's to win. There's no other option."
The 35-year-old, who lost his father to cancer at 13, is undergoing chemotherapy for Stage 2 Hodgkin's disease, with which he was diagnosed on April 30, the magazine said. Doctors discovered a mass on the left side of his chest and swollen lymph node under his left clavicle, and last week diagnosed him with a rare form of Hodgkin's called CD20-positive Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
Zohn's illness has a high cure rate, but requires an aggressive, three-month chemotherapy regimen that will cause nausea and weakness. Zahn is also expected to lose his trademark mop of hair.
His girlfriend, Survivor: The Amazon winner Jenna Morasca, says she will "fight with every fabric of my being to get him through this." Morasca memorably left Survivor: All Stars to see her mother before she died of breast cancer. Zohn also appeared on the show.
Since competing on the show, Zahn has worked as a motivational speaker and commentator. He also co-founded Grassroot Soccer, which teaches young people life skills and about HIV/AIDS prevention.
