Yellowjackets: Bear Grylls Weighs In On Misty's Survival Instincts
"Yellowjackets" is a show about survival — after all, half of the show's storyline follows a group of high school girls trying to stay alive in the wilderness following a plane crash. As fans know, the girls eventually resort to cannibalism, although we haven't yet gotten to that part of their story. Still, Season 1 is full of gruesome survival tactics and shocking moments — including when Misty (Sammi Hanratty) makes a split decision to cut off the leg of their assistant coach Ben (Steven Krueger).
In the scene, after their plane has crashed, it's revealed Ben's leg is stuck underneath the plane's wing. Misty and the other girls manage to move the plane part off of Ben's leg, revealing a bloody and crushed leg that looks gruesome. Without missing a beat, Misty grabs an axe and amputates the leg to save Ben's life. The move works, and Ben recovers, albeit with one less leg than he had before.
But how realistic is this scene? In a recent video with Vanity Fair in which he reviews survival scenes from various films and TV shows, "Man vs. Wild" star Bear Grylls gave his insight into Misty's decision to amputate Ben's leg. And according to Grylls, Misty may have been wrong with her decision. Grylls said, "[It was] maybe jumping to some hasty conclusions." Instead, he thinks Misty should have focused on stabilizing the broken leg.
Grylls explains what Misty and the team should have done to help Ben
Bear Grylls explained to Vanity Fair that the gruesome scene in which Misty chops off Ben's leg could have been a little less gruesome. Had it been him, he would have dealt with the coach's broken leg a little differently.
Grylls explained, "Really, they've done the hard work which is getting the injured person out from under that wing. The leg is obviously broken, but once that leg and that person is away from the danger, really, the focus wants to be on just stabilizing them, potentially resetting that leg and then protecting it." Further, the act of amputating it is a bit more dangerous than it was presented in "Yellowjackets," as the open wound can lead to life-threatening issues. Grylls explained that because they didn't have access to antibiotics, an open wound could easily lead to sepsis. He continued, "Blood sepsis kills very fast."
The survival expert did admit that there was a different scenario in which amputating would be the best bet: if they weren't able to get Ben out from underneath the plane and there was no other option. Explaining the best way to go through with it, Grylls continued, "You want to tourniquet first, then you need to cut. Then you gotta get through bone, which is harder than it sounds, often involve initially breaking the bone before then cutting through it." However, that still leads to the big problem of having an open wound without antibiotics.
Grylls concluded, "But really, looking at this clip, they would've been better off just stabilizing the injury, keeping the person calm, keeping fluids going into them. Not getting out the big old machete, getting out the ax!"