Deadliest Catch may be one of the most aptly named
reality shows on TV.
From tragic accidents on ships to sudden deaths off screen,
these are some of these saddest details to emerge about
the show in its nearly 2 decade run.
Blake Painter first appeared in Deadliest Catch in 2006, working
as an engineer before taking the helm of the FV
Maverick.
He was featured in 10 episodes of the reality television
series during the second and third seasons, but later quit
the show.
However, he continued to work as a crab fisherman off
screen.
At just 38 years of age, Painter was found dead
at his home in May 2018 by police officers.
Friends had contacted authorities after noticing a seemingly lifeless body
at Painter's home while he had been missing for several
days.
Although there were no suspicious circumstances, his death reports indicated
that Painter had been arrested a few months before for
allegedly using heroin while driving.
According to TMZ, several drugs were found in the room
where Painter's body was located when police searched the premises.
While no cause of death was provided, he was suspected
to have died due to an overdose.
Out of the many crab fishermen who have starred in
Deadliest Catch as a leading cast member, Jake Anderson is
one of the longest serving.
He made his debut on the show in 2007 and
has so far appeared in just over 200 episodes, eventually
going on to become the captain of the ship known
as Saga.
However, his time on the show has not been easy
for the fisherman, and he has received bad news on
two separate occasions about his family while on screen.
The first happened in an episode during season five of
Deadliest Catch, recorded in February 2009.
He was told that his sister, Chelsea Don Anderson, had
passed away unexpectedly.
She had suffered from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis since childhood and
died due to complications of pneumonia that were exacerbated by
her chronic condition.
A year later, in a season six episode, Anderson learned
that his father had gone missing.
Keith Anderson's truck had been discovered empty in a remote
area of Washington.
We found the truck for dads on him yet, but
they're still searching and our families are out searching.
The 62 year old was presumed dead due to the
freezing conditions, although his body was not found until two
years later when a hiker came across unidentified human remains.
Having first appeared in season 8 as a greenhorn aboard
the fishing vessel known as the Seabrook Malon Reyes became
a regular throughout the 8th season.
Reyes was promoted to deckhand on the Seabrook in later
seasons before transferring to the Cape Caution in 2014.
He was then absent for over half a decade until
his return as a deckhand on the Summer Bay in
2020 for three episodes.
Those episodes proved to be the final time that Reyes
would be on screen in Deadliest Catch.
In August 2020, he died from a heart attack at
the age of 38.
According to his family members, Reyes was not suffering from
any pre-existing health conditions and the heart attack came as
a total surprise.
He is survived by his wife and their four children,
with his family later revealing that his ashes were to
be scattered at sea.
A later episode of Deadliest Catch was subsequently aired in
memory of the fisherman, a post from his family on
Facebook read on Sunday night.
Our family together made the hardest choice we've ever made
and that was to remove him from life support.
Malon's body was tired and had put up an amazing
fight.
He was the strongest guy we knew.
He was surrounded by so much love.
One of the biggest threats for any fisherman is their
vessel becoming damaged.
This can not only put their own lives at risk,
but also opens up the very real possibility of the
ship sinking with all of its equipment.
It is any captain's worst nightmare and something that nobody
wants to witness.
Unfortunately, Deadliest Catch has featured several fishing ships that have
sadly sunk either on the show or off screen, often
with tragic consequences for those involved.
The FV Big Valley sank in 2005, killing five of
the six crew on the ship, while the FV destination
disappeared, leading to a widespread search that was depicted in
Deadliest Catch as the Coast Guard and close by boats
helped to locate the sunken vessel.
They've found the life rings, they've found a fuel flake,
they've found debris indicative of a crab boat going down.
Other ships that have appeared in Deadliest Catch and have
subsequently been lost at sea include the FV Alaska Ranger
and the Catmai.
Perhaps the most highly publicized of these terrible incidents was
the FV Scandis Rose, a crab fishing ship that sank
in 2019, resulting in the death of five of the
seven crew members on board.
As one of the regulars of the series, much of
Anderson's life has been discussed and shown on screen during
episodes of Deadliest Catch.
He began life on the show as a greenhorn on
the Northwestern before making his way up to deckhand and
then deck boss on the same ship.
He continued to climb the ladder until taking over as
captain on Saga, but he's revealed in interviews over the
years that not everything has been smooth sailing for the
fisherman.
Before he became involved in crab fishing on Deadliest Catch,
his life was very different and could have ended in
tragedy.
In his debut book, Relapse, Anderson spoke about his battles
with addiction.
After an injury that ended his professional skateboarding career and
losing almost all of his sponsorship money, Anderson struggled with
drug and alcohol problems.
He also spent time homeless, unable to afford rent due
to unemployment and addiction issues.
Having reached rock bottom, Anderson has shared his personal stories
in the hope of inspiring others rather than gaining sympathy.
Compared to some of the other cast members of Deadliest
Catch, Justin Tennyson didn't have a particularly long run on
the show.
In season 7, the experienced fisherman joined the Time Bandit
as a deckhand.
That meant working with Andy, Jonathan and Neil Hillstrand, as
well as Eddie Uykalani on one of the series most
popular vessels.
He made his first appearance in 2011 and appeared in
a total of 8 episodes.
Although his time was ultimately cut short.
Tennyson was found dead in a hotel room in Alaska
in February 2011 at the age of 33.
Despite initial suggestions that his death may have been caused
by substance abuse, it was eventually revealed that he suffered
from sleep apnea and complications from his condition were responsible,
his friend and cousin UA Kalani told The Hollywood Reporter.
His last wishes were to be cremated and taken out
to the water for one long trip.
He loved Alaska, he loved hunting and fishing and everything
about it.
He loved his kids tremendously.
Nick Mcglashan quickly established himself as a popular member of
the Deadliest Catch cast following his initial appearance in 2013.
Originally working as a deckhand on board the Cape Caution,
he later transitioned to the Summer Bay, where he worked
as a deck boss from 2017 until his final posthumous
on screen role in the season 17 episode Tangled Web.
Throughout that time, Mcglashan was present in 85 episodes of
the hit reality television show.
The 33 year old star of the series was found
dead in December 2020.
According to Variety, the fisherman had struggled with addiction problems
for many years, abusing alcohol and drugs from a young
age.
However, he had been living sober for some time before
his death, having been forced to confront his issues under
threat of being fired from his fishing job.
I have some problems that Bill can't take care of,
so we're going to the clinic, we get checked out.
British tabloid paper The Son later reported that his autopsy
had shown that he had died from an overdose and
that a mixture of drugs was found in his body.
The fact that crab fishing is so dangerous means that
the crew of the various vessels Showcased and Deadliest Catch
often risk their lives.
So while efforts are taken to make the job as
safe as possible, there are still some inevitable injuries.
Throughout the more than 300 episodes of the reality series
to date, there have been some truly horrific incidents where
fishermen have suffered serious wounds.
One of the worst injuries happened to Corey Rhodes during
the finale episode of season 15.
The deckhand saw his leg mangled after it was crushed
by a falling 1000 LB crab pot, breaking both the
fibula.
Rhodes had to be evacuated to the hospital by the
Coast Guard due to the serious nature of the leg
injury.
Meanwhile, Rodger Schlostein had the misfortune of being injured twice
during his appearances on Deadliest Catch.
The first occurrence saw the fisherman crush his hand against
a rail, while the second involved a loose crab pot
crashing into his back while he worked at a sorting
table.
Your tenacity is impressive, Roger.
Another significant injury on Deadliest Catch involved Francis Katungan, who
was pinned against a railing by a giant piece of
steel after a wave dislodged crab pots on the side
of the Patricia Lee.
The incident was so bad that producer Todd Stanley had
to provide first aid until the ship was within range
of a Coast Guard helicopter.
Out of all the people featured in Deadliest Catch, Captain
Phil Harris was arguably the most beloved by fans.
An experienced fisherman who had been involved in the industry
since he was a young child, he was one of
the first stars of the show as the captain of
the Cornelia Marie and quickly became a favorite of viewers.
However, his time on the show was not always great.
He was often shown to have a tumultuous relationship with
his family and suffered a serious injury in 2008 when
he fell during a storm and broke his ribs.
The accident resulted in Harris coughing up blood and eventually
suffering from a pulmonary symbolism.
The damage caused by this incident led to the captain
missing much of the year.
Unfortunately, this injury was just a precursor to a far
more tragic event that would take place in 2010.
During filming for Deadliest Catch, Harris was found unresponsive in
his cabin.
Quickly transported to the hospital to receive medical treatment, it
was revealed that he had suffered a significant stroke and
required life saving surgery.
Although it initially seemed as if his condition was improving,
he later suffered a fatal intracranial hemorrhage.
Deadliest Catch cast and crew subsequently held a memorial service
for the captain and dedicated an episode in his honor.
While Deadliest Catch has seen more than its fair share
of injuries throughout its cast, behind the scenes there are
even more deadly matters afoot.
For instance, the cast of the show faces the same
kind of risks as everyone else when it comes to
diseases and illnesses.
Captain Bill Witrowski found this out during the season 19
finale when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Doctors recommended that he start treatment immediately due to the
aggressive nature of the cancer.
Witrowski went public with his diagnosis to help raise awareness
of the dangers that state cancer poses to men.
According to the American Cancer Society, it is a disease
that affects hundreds of thousands of people and kills over
35,000 each year.
The disease also hasn't stopped Witrowski from filming for future
seasons of Deadliest Catch.
When I heard it, one of the things I thought
was, you know what?
I'm not going to stop.
I'm going to keep going until I actually can't.
For nearly two decades of discoveries, Deadliest Catch Nick Mavar
was a recurring presence as a Northwestern deckhand.
He made 98 appearances until his departure from the series
after season 17.
After experiencing pain aboard the Northwestern, Mavar was airlifted to
a hospital and diagnosed with a ruptured appendix.
During his treatment, doctors discovered a cancerous tumor within his
appendix.
To recover properly and start immediate treatment, Mavar left Deadliest
Catch.
However, this wasn't the end of his association with the
show.
He subsequently sued the owners of the Northwestern in a
lawsuit that also involved production company Original Productions Inc.
Mavar was a popular member of the Northwestern crew, serving
under Captain Sig Hansen.
During a particularly emotional and personal storyline, Mavar played a
prominent role in helping Jake Anderson, his nephew, in his
recovery following alcohol and drug addictions.
A Bristol Bay Borough Police Department spokesperson told Variety that
Mavar had suffered a medical emergency and had died of
natural causes on June 13th, 2024, after being transported to
Combine Medical Center in Alaska.
Speaking to The New York Times, Anderson shed more light
on his uncle's death, confirming that he had been working
at a dry dock when he had a heart attack.
He said Mavar fell from a ladder onto the dry
dock before medics arrived at the scene.
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction
issues, help is available.
Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website
or contact Samsa's national helpline at one 806 Six Two
Help 1-800-662-4357.