Cause of death for Deadliest Catch star Todd Meadows, 25, a month after deck hand fell overboard into freezing waters
DEADLIEST Catch star Todd Meadows’ cause of death was revealed on Monday, over a month after the deck hand fell overboard into freezing waters.
Meadows died on February 25 in an accident aboard a vessel in the Bering Sea while the Deadliest Catch cameras were rolling.
Meadow, a father of three, died after he drowned “with probable hypothermia” and “submersion of body in cold water,” his death certificate said.
His death was ruled an accident.
The 25-year-old fell overboard while crabbing on a fishing boat off the coast of Alaska and was pronounced dead on February 25 at 5:15pm.
His body was recovered minutes after he fell, but the several attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.
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His death was caught on camera while filming the long-running Discovery Channel series.
Deadliest Catch premiered in 2005, giving insight into the harsh conditions fishing crews face on the Bering Sea.
His mother, Angela, told TMZ that the family doesn’t want the footage to be aired.
“We don’t want to see any footage of the accident and do not want Discovery to air any of that footage or make money off of our son’s death,” she said.
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“We hope they only air good things of Todd on that boat.”
Captain Rick Shelford called February 25 “the most tragic day in the history of the Aleutian Lady on the Bering Sea.”
“Todd was the newest member of our crew, he quickly became family,” Shelford said.
“His love for fishing and his strong work ethic earned everyone’s respect right away.”
The crew later broke their silence revealing Meadows’ tragic final moments.
The crew said he was left blue and foaming at the mouth after they tried to save him numerous times.
Deckhand Trey John Green III told Page Six that Meadows ended up in the water following an incident with one of the traps used to catch shellfish.
The crew ran to the back of the boat to immediately keep their eyes on Meadows after he hit the water.
“I see Todd. He’s floating, he’s swimming. He’s got huge baby blue eyes. And I can still, probably from like 100 yards away, I could still see his eyes looking around,” Green said.
“Todd was still alive, he’s still swimming, he’s still trying to hang in there.
“We get next to him, and then Steve [Porter] — Steve is the — every boat has a designated rescue swimmer for this exact kind of scenario. Steve was already geared up and was already in the diving suit.”
Green said that when Porter jumped into the water to save Meadows, the harness attached to the crane broke.
Other crew members managed to get a life sling into the water quickly, but when Meadows was “halfway up” and “almost back on the boat,” he fell back into the sea.
“The second time we went to go lift him up, Todd was just — he was lifeless,” Green recalled.
“He didn’t have any more — like I said, the first time, he was fighting, trying to get onto the sling. And then the second time, he was just — he was lifeless.”
Green said Meadows was only in the water for “three or four minutes” before they got him back on the boat, but at that point he began “turning blue.”
“I just want to reiterate that — everybody did everything they could do,” Green said.
A GoFundMe was created after Meadows’ death, which has since raised over $56,000 for his family and his three sons.
Meadows’ mother revealed that the 25-year-old suffered a concussion just weeks before his death.
The head injury left him unable to return to work for several weeks.
He returned to Washington to recover, which was the last week his family saw him, Angela said.
“The last photo I got of him was when he was building a fire. He was listening to music in the moment and was so happy,” she said.
“That’s how I want to remember him.”