3 weeks ago
“Deadliest Catch” prima Todd Meadows — who died astatine sea while filming Season 22 of nan Discovery Channel reality bid — makes heartbreaking comments during Friday’s premiere.
In a clip obtained by Page Six, nan section originates pinch nan rookie deckhand telling nan camera, “It’s been 1 of my dreams and goals to make it up here. I’ve been to Alaska a fewer times, but ne'er to fish, conscionable to picnic and to bent retired pinch family.”
The 25-year-old from Washington authorities marvels, “Everything up present that I’ve knowledgeable truthful acold is truthful overmuch bigger. Everything is scaled up. It smells different, feels different.”
Meadows — who is survived by his 3 young sons — explains that while nan occupation comes pinch “a batch of risk,” he wants to show his boys that it’s important to prosecute one’s passions.
“I conscionable want my kids to cognize that I want them to activity towards their dreams and goals. Don’t fto thing slow you down,” Meadows says, adding, “It’s gonna beryllium fun. I’m conscionable fortunate that I fell successful emotion pinch it.”
The surface past cuts to a title paper pinch his photograph and nan words, “In Memory of Todd Meadows, 2000-2006.”
Later successful nan episode, Meadows’ captain, Rick Shelford, makes an eerie remark astir nan Bering Sea’s “shredding currents and towering waves.”
A leader is besides shown stopping by Shelford’s Aleutian Lady sportfishing alloy and blessing nan unit earlier their charter.
As Page Six antecedently reported, cameras captured everything that occurred connected nan vessel before, during and aft Meadows’ Feb. 25 death. However, Discovery insisted they would not aerial nan decease itself retired of respect for his loved ones.
Notably, Meadows’ family has since lawyered up.
Shelford announced Meadows’ decease connected Facebook connected March 2, penning successful part, “February 25, 2026 was nan astir tragic time successful nan history of nan Aleutian Lady connected nan Bering Sea. We mislaid our brother, Todd Meadows.”
Shelford noted that Meadows was “the newest personnel of [their] crew” but praised his activity ethic, contagious smile, infectious laughter and emotion for his family, including his children.
Page Six later said pinch Meadows’ chap deckhand Trey John Green III, who gave america a elaborate account of what he claimed happened aboard nan vessel astir 170 miles northbound of Alaska’s Dutch Harbor successful nan precocious day of Feb. 25.
According to Green, nan notoriously treacherous h2o was really “calm” that day, moreover though it was “only a grade aliases 2 supra freezing.”
Green told america that galore of nan vessel’s unit members had taken turns getting into nan pots — baited, rigid traps utilized to drawback shellfish — to sift done crabs retrieved from nan ocean.
Green alleged that Meadows was still wrong 1 of nan 900-pound pots erstwhile it went “over nan rail” and backmost into nan water, claiming nan different unit members screamed erstwhile they saw what was happening.
“It’s 1 of those things that nary of america really understand. I don’t cognize what happened,” Green explained.
“So that’s what Todd was doing. The cookware is sitting successful nan launcher, and Todd was really wrong nan pot.”
Green emphasized that Meadows was “in nan correct spot astatine nan correct time,” “doing precisely what he was expected to beryllium doing” erstwhile nan incident occurred.
“We’re like, ‘Holy crap, he’s gonna descend to nan bottom. We’re not gonna person immoderate measurement to get this cookware backmost up,'” Green recalled thinking, adding that he instantly ran to nan backmost of nan ship, climbed connected apical of nan different pots and looked for Meadows.
“I spot Todd. He’s floating, he’s swimming. He’s sewage immense babe bluish eyes. And I tin still, astir apt from for illustration 100 yards away, I could still spot his eyes looking around,” Green recalled.
He said he kept his digit connected Meadows while Shelford turned nan vessel astir to get wrong a fewer feet of him.
“Todd’s still alive, he’s still swimming, he’s still trying to bent successful there. We get adjacent to him, and past Steve [Porter] — Steve is nan — each vessel has a designated rescue swimmer for this nonstop benignant of scenario.
“Steve was already geared up and was already successful nan diving suit,” Green told us, adding that “when Steve jumped successful nan water, nan harness that was attached to nan crane really broke.”
Green said different unit members then managed to get a life sling that’s attached to nan crane into nan water.
At this point, Green explained that Meadows was capable to activity pinch Porter and get himself into nan sling. Green said Meadows was “halfway up” and “almost backmost connected nan boat” erstwhile he “fell backmost into nan water.”
“The 2nd clip we went to spell assistance him up, Todd was just– he was lifeless,” Green lamented. “He didn’t person immoderate much — for illustration I said, nan first time, he was fighting, trying to get onto nan sling. And past nan 2nd time, he was conscionable — he was lifeless.”
According to Green, Meadows was successful nan h2o for only “three aliases 4 minutes” earlier they successfully sewage him backmost connected nan vessel, but by that point, he was already “turning blue” arsenic foam came retired of his rima and nose.
Still, Green said he and others began performing CPR “right away.”
“We yet brought him wrong and continued CPR. The vessel has an AED [machine] … it’s fundamentally a defibrillator. And we tried to usage that, too, and it conscionable — thing was working. And finally, finally, aft a half hour, 45 minutes of trying to prevention him, Captain came down and said, ‘Guys, it’s not gonna work,'” Green recalled.
He explained to america that nan Aleutian Lady was astir “12 hours away” from Dutch Harbor erstwhile they exhausted each rescue efforts. He said nan unit past made nan difficult determination to wrap Meadows’ assemblage successful a tarp, spot it successful nan freezer to sphere it and caput backmost to town.
Meadows’ origin of decease was later wished to be “drowning by probable hypothermia” and “submersion of assemblage successful acold water.”
Green admitted to america that Meadows was not wearing a lifejacket, noting, “On this boat, we don’t deterioration lifejackets. I don’t really cognize what nan logic is.”
The US Coast Guard’s investigation remains ongoing.
“Deadliest Catch” Season 22 premieres Friday astatine 8 p.m. connected nan Discovery Channel.
