“We were not financially strong … times were really tough. And that’s why he was out there looking for an exit. We want to set up stability for us and security for the boys and Madeline growing up.”
Mary admits she had to mentally prepare her three kids Lennox, 7, 5-year-old Nate and baby Madeline for Luke’s long stint in Fiji.
But juggling three young children without her biggest support was a challenge.
“The boys missed him like crazy! But I had mentally prepared them before he left so they weren’t asking every day, ‘Where’s Dad?’ I gave them the worst-case scenario, which was eight weeks,” Mary explains.
“My life was absolute chaos while he was gone … It was just really hard because Madeline was so sick and in hospital.”
Madeline was only six weeks old when Luke left to go on the show, and Mary confesses he only accepted the offer to return in the hope of winning the $500,000 prize.
Luke touched the hearts of Survivor fans as he skyrocketed to the top four and opened up about his sweet family.
“He wanted to set his family up, so he couldn’t turn [it] down … money is hard to come by! As bad as the timing was, he just couldn’t turn it down or say no,” Mary adds.
“[When he didn’t win] it was devastating. I actually flew to Sydney with the boys when he had made top four, and when
I got there, I was told he didn’t make top three so I had to fly straight back home. It was tragic.”
When it comes to thanking the people who opened their wallets to her family, Mary was a little speechless.
“I feel like nothing I say will be good enough. I can’t even comprehend it right now. Thank you isn’t enough,” she says.
“They have turned our lives around. We were in struggle town and now we can look to a promising future, and it’s a really good feeling.”
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