Since “Deadliest Catch” star Todd Meadows perished in a heartbreaking crabbing accident in the ocean on February 25, his stunned fans have been grasping for answers as to how the tragedy occurred. Captain Rick Shelford, another cast member on the show, announced the 25-year-old’s passing in a March 2 Instagram post, but didn’t go into detail about what exactly happened.
Now, another cast member, deckhand John Trey Green III, has spoken out to reveal some of the details. Page Six says Green told them Meadows went overboard inside a shellfish trap while the famed fishing boat, the Aleutian Lady, was around 170 miles north of Dutch Harbor in Alaska on the Bering Sea.
The report says Green recalled that the typically rough water was unusually calm that day, although the temperature as “a degree or two above freezing.”
The story says he revealed several crew members had taken turns getting into the shellfish traps, known as “pots,” to sort through crabs that had been caught.
Meadows was inside one of the pots when Green says it went “over the rail” and back into the ocean, prompting screams from other crewmates.
The story quotes Green as saying he still doesn’t understand how it occurred. “It’s one of those things that none of us really understand. I don’t know what happened,” he reportedly told them, adding that Green was not breaking any of the ship’s protocols when he died. He was “in the right place at the right time” and “doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing,” according to Green.
The below video shows what a “pot” looks like.
Crewmate Recalls the Moment He Realized Todd Meadows Was Not Going to Survive
He says he recalled thinking when he saw Meadows going into the water, “Holy crap, he’s gonna sink to the bottom. We’re not gonna have any way to get this pot back up.” He said Meadows miraculously managed to escape the cage, and was observed swimming and “trying to hang in there.” Todd, like the rest of the crew, was not wearing a lifejacket, Green says.
A designated rescue swimmer managed to retrieve Meadows after “three or four minutes” in the water, but by then it was too late. CRP was attempted for nearly two hours, the outlet says. Meadows’ exact cause of death has not yet been publicized.
‘Everybody Did Everything They Could Do’
Page Six says Green told them that “everybody did everything they could do” to save Meadows, attempting CPR and using a defibrillator. When they finally came to terms with the fact Meadows was gone, Green says the crew wrapped his body in a tarp and preserved it in the freezer for the 12 hour journey back to Dutch Harbor.
A GoFundMe ha been created to assist Meadows’ children.
