A TECHNO addict who wanted to be taken out of her comfort zone certainly got her wish when she found herself helping to catch a crocodile on a desert island.
Kathryn Burn, 24, battled through four weeks of torrential storms, dehydration and hunger when she appeared on Channel 4’s The Island with Bear Grylls.
More commonly known as Kaggy to her friends and family, the Swindon events manager took part in the gruelling adventure at the end of last year but, this week, the popular television series came to a close and Kaggy was able to talk about her experience.
As a self-confessed social media addict, she says she was looking for a once-in-a-lifetime experience while proving to people she had what it takes to survive on the island without her phone.
“If you had asked one person who knows me to tell you someone they didn’t think would be able to cope or would absolutely hate the experience, it would be me,” Kaggy admitted.
“That is why I loved the thought of taking part even more. I wanted people to be surprised, and know that I’m a lot tougher than people probably think.
“I absolutely love a challenge, and I don’t think I could challenge myself any more than this.”
Over the past six weeks, viewers have seen Kaggy face her fears and hunt for food, helping to catch a turkey and a Cayman crocodile – providing much-needed calories for the team, who lost over 13st between them.
This year, the show had a new twist where two groups from different generations were dropped on a pair of neighbouring islands without knowledge of one another, but after a couple of days, they joined forces.
Armed with some survival training, the clothes they stood in, filming equipment, medical supplies, some basic tools, fishing equipment and enough water for 24 hours, the islanders were forced to fend for themselves in the outdoors.
Kaggy added: “I knew it would be hard. It was a lot harder than I could have ever imagined though. But the sense of achievement that I felt the day I got off the Island was just overwhelming.
“The hardest thing to deal with was definitely the weather. Having no food was tough, but the weather was just something else. We had torrential rain and we were all cold, wet, and tired. Our clothes were drenched and it was just impossible to dry them.
“I remember there was a moment when it started thundering and lightning and we were all sat on the floor in a circle, with our backs to one another, linking arms and trying to keep our body heat. We sang Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody at the top of our voices, word for word.”
Despite the experience, Kaggy said she has loved watching the series and part of her would love to do the whole thing again. She still keeps in touch with her campmates, especially Jordan and camerawoman Em.
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