Kelly Bruno

Kelly Bruno was a contestant on Survivor: Nicaragua. She placed 15th.

Profile
Kelly Bruno was 6 months old when she had her leg amputated below the knee due to a congenital deformity. She currently holds world records for amputees in the 200m and 800m distances, has won gold at the 2008 New York Triathlon and ITU World Triathlon Championships in the amputee division, and was the second amputee to finish the Ironman Kona Triathlon in Hawaii in 2007, setting the current record for the course in the process. In 2008, she was named a ball girl at the US Open - a first for an amputee. Her father, Dr. Richard Bruno, who was a teacher at Lynn University, was killed while overseeing an outreach mission in Haiti during the earthquake in January 2010.

Survivor: Nicaragua
Bruno surprised her tribemates that she had a prosthetic leg due to a birth defect. The revelation caused mixed reactions within the tribe, stipulated that her artificial leg might cause them problems during a challenge and making her a decent threat should she make it to the Final Tribal Council. This fact would be put on hold when La Flor won the first immunity challenge. Though they had lost the second one, the tribe was amazed on how Kelly B. performed at the challenge, gaining some respect, though still had reservations. After the loss, Bruno joined Shannon Elkins' alliance to supposedly eliminate Brenda Lowe. But after Shannon made crude remarks at Tribal Council, she joined the Brenda's alliance of Ben Henry, NaOnka Mixon, Sash Lenahan, Chase Rice and Kelly Shinn. where Shannon paid the price and was voted out. Though she joined them in voting Shannon out, siding with him in the first place put her into a minotiry position in the tribe.

After sacrificing the Medallion of Power to the rival Espada tribe for fishing gear in Day 1, she and tribemate Alina Wilson discovered that the trade also gave them a clue to a Hidden Immunity Idol buried somewhere at camp, though the two failed to locate it. After winning the Day 8 combined reward/immunity challenge with a basket of fruits for reward, she raced with tribemate/majority alliance member NaOnka Mixon for a basket containing a second Hidden Immunity Idol clue, with the latter even shoving her and wasting some of the fruits they had won. When Mixon finally found the La Flor Immunity Idol the next day, she was followed by Kelly B and Alina trying to find the idol for themselves. Not knowing that NaOnka already found it, they searched at the place where NaOnka found it, only to be caught by NaOnka, who started bullying Bruno to break her confidence. Though appalled of how NaOnka mistreated her, Kelly B. decided to stay reserved.

During the tribe shuffle, Kelly B. stayed at La Flor. At the Day 15 double Tribal Council Twist, she was targeted by Brenda, who never had an allegiance with her. Eventually, the vote ended up in a tie, with Bruno and ex-Espada member Marty Piombo having three votes each, while Brenda having two votes. After a revote, Kelly B. was voted out, 5-1.

Voting History
In Worst Case Scenario, the vote ended with a 3-3 tie between Marty and Kelly B., forcing a revote, where the only eligible for elimination were Kelly B. and Marty. At the revote, Kelly B. received enough votes to get eliminated.

Trivia

 * Kelly Bruno is the second amputee Survivor contestant, following Chad Crittenden from Survivor: Vanuatu.
 * She was also the first contestant to be voted out during a pre-merge tie vote since James Miller from Survivor: Palau.