Tragic Death of Deadliest Catch Star Todd Meadows
The death of Todd Meadows, a star of the popular TV show Deadliest Catch, has been revealed in a new light through his death certificate. The document provides heartbreaking details about the 25-year-old deckhand’s passing at sea in February.
Meadows died after falling overboard into the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska on February 25. His crewmates aboard the Aleutian Lady fishing vessel, led by Captain Rick Shelford, made a desperate attempt to rescue him. However, despite their efforts, he was pronounced dead at 5:15 pm that day in an ‘accident’ aboard the crab vessel in the Bering Sea.
According to the public document, Meadows died from ‘drowning with probable hypothermia’ and ‘submersion of body in cold water’. His body was later cremated after being transported back to Anchorage. He is survived by his wife and three young children.
An investigation into his death by the Coastguard is still ongoing. His family has expressed their hope for ‘justice’ for the star.
The Rescue Attempt
Deckhand Trey John Green III, 30, who was on the vessel during the incident, recalled the moment a rescue harness snapped as the crew fought to save the young fisherman. He said they did ‘everything they could’ to help him.
Green previously told Page Six that Meadows was in the water for ‘three or four minutes’ before the crew was able to get him back on the boat. By then, he was already ‘turning blue’ with foam emerging out of his mouth and nose.
The entire incident was reportedly captured from multiple angles by Discovery Channel cameras as the crew performed CPR for 45 minutes in a vain attempt to revive him before the Captain halted the rescue efforts.
The Conditions and Incident
Green described the usually treacherous Bering Sea as ‘flat’ and ‘calm’ on that day, with ‘good’ weather and high visibility. He mentioned that the water was ‘only a degree or two above freezing’ and the ‘outside temperature was below freezing’.
He alleged that Meadows went overboard after an incident with one of the vessel’s shellfish pots. Green said that right after Meadows went overboard, he ran to the back of the boat to look for him. He saw Todd floating and swimming, with ‘huge baby blue eyes’ that he could still see from 100 yards away.
Shelford turned the boat around to get closer. Green said that Todd was still alive, trying to hang in there, and that Steve Porter, the designated rescue swimmer, was already geared up and in a diving suit. When Steve jumped into the water, the harness attached to the crane broke.
Desperate crew members then scrambled to deploy a life sling attached to the vessel’s crane. With the help of Porter, Meadows was able to get into the sling and was ‘halfway up’ and ‘almost back on the boat’ when he ‘fell back into the water’.
CPR Efforts and Lifejacket Issue
Green said that by the second attempt, Meadows was ‘lifeless’. He added that even though Meadows was ‘turning blue’, they began performing CPR ‘right away’. They used an AED machine, but ‘nothing was working’. After 45 minutes, the Captain told them, ‘Guys, it’s not gonna work.’
Green also claimed that Meadows was not wearing a lifejacket. On this boat, he explained, ‘we don’t wear lifejackets’. He admitted that it sounded silly to outsiders, but he said that when working 18–20 hours a day, it was just another piece of gear that was a hassle.
Additional Details
It was previously reported that Meadows allegedly suffered a traumatic brain injury weeks before his death. According to TMZ, his mother, Angela Meadows, said he had been taken off work on medical leave before being given the OK to return. She claimed that he had taken a blow to the head about a month ago while on the Aleutian Lady.
In line with injury protocols, he saw a doctor who allegedly determined that he had suffered a concussion. Meadows’s mother said he was flown back to Washington to recover for around a week, which marked the final time she and her family saw him before his death.
She also stated that her family does not place blame on Deadliest Catch for Meadows’s concussion. While speaking to TMZ, she said their family does not want any footage of the fatal incident to be aired. Instead, they have asked for clips of Todd crabbing at sea so they can remember him doing what he loved.
A GoFundMe launched to support the boys has already raised more than $48,000.
