'Survivor' contestant has local ties
The Crittenden family of North Stafford has a vested interest in this year's "Survivor" show. Their relative is one of the castaways.
By CATHY DYSON
Date published: 10/17/2004
By CATHY DYSON
North Stafford family has vested interest in this season's show
People seem to think the Crittendens of North Stafford have some inside information on "Survivor" this season, just because their relative is on the show.
But they don't know any more about what happens to Chad Crittenden, the castaway with the prosthetic foot, than anybody else who watches the Thursday-night show.
"I've been asked so many times, 'Do you know who wins?'" said Maddie Crittenden, Chad's half-sister. "I keep telling them, 'I don't know any more more than you do.'
"And I don't want to know," she added.
Maddie, a 14-year-old freshman at North Stafford High School, and "Survivor" contestant Chad, a 35-year-old school teacher from Oakland, Calif., have the same father: Steve.
Chad is the oldest child from Steve Crittenden's first marriage, and Maddie is the youngest from his second.
Chad grew up on the West Coast while Maddie and her two brothers, Michael and Zeph, have lived off Garrisonville Road.
Maddie's mother, Ann, is a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps and currently on a one-year assignment in Japan. Maddie's father is a retired Marine officer who works for a local defense contractor.
The Stafford Crittendens don't see a lot of Chad and his family because they're on opposite sides of the country.
But they're certainly rooting for him to take home the million-dollar prize--and believe he's got the mental and physical skills to win.
"He might have half a leg, but he totally makes up for it," Maddie said Thursday, while watching her brother on TV. "The shape he's in, he can outrun all those guys."
This year's "Survivor" takes place in the South Pacific, on a group of islands called Vanuatu. (That's pronounced Van-u-WAH-too.)
Chad shocked his fellow tribe members in the first episode. After the men had climbed over rocks and hiked through jungle terrain, Chad rolled up his pants to show a metal spike where his lower leg used to be.
Two years ago, he went to the doctor to remove what he thought was a cyst from his right foot, according to a Sept. 18 story in the San Francisco Chronicle.
It turned out to be a rare form of cancer--synovial sarcoma--that can spread to the lungs. To be safe, doctors told Chad he needed to have his leg amputated below the knee.
Date published: 10/17/2004
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