The crew aboard Captain Rick Shelford’s Aleutian Lady fishing vessel did “everything they could” to save “Deadliest Catch” star Todd Meadows before he tragically died on Feb. 25 at the age of 25.
Deckhand Trey John Green III told Page Six in an exclusive interview that the notoriously treacherous Bering Sea was “flat” and “calm” that day, and the weather was “actually good.” He noted the incident occurred in the late afternoon while the sun was still out, so visibility was high.
However, he said the water was “only a degree or two above freezing” and that the “outside temperature was below freezing.”
Green alleged that fellow deckhand Meadows ended up in the water following an incident with one of the pots — a baited, rigid trap used to catch shellfish — aboard the 127-foot boat.
However, the US Coast Guard’s investigation remains ongoing, and authorities have not officially determined the exact circumstances surrounding Meadows’ death.
Green, 30, told us that as soon as Meadows was overboard, he ran to the back of the boat and climbed on top of the pots to look for him.
“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 recalled.
He said he kept his finger on Meadows while Shelford turned the boat around to get within a few feet of him.
“Todd’s 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 told us, adding that “when Steve jumped in the water, the harness that was attached to the crane actually broke.”
Green said other crew members then managed to get a life sling that’s attached to the crane into the water.
At this point, Green explained that Meadows was able to work with Porter and get himself into the sling. Green said Meadows was “halfway up” and “almost back on the boat” when he “fell back into the water.”
“The second time we went to go lift him up, Todd was just — he was lifeless,” Green lamented. “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.”
Porter has not responded to Page Six’s requests for comment.
According to Green, Meadows was in the water for only “three or four minutes” before they successfully got him back on the boat, but by that point, he was already “turning blue” as foam emerged from his mouth and nose.
Still, Green said he and others began performing CPR “right away.”
“We finally brought him inside and continued CPR. The boat has an AED [machine] … it’s basically a defibrillator. And we tried to use that, too, and it just — nothing was working. And finally, finally, after a half hour, 45 minutes of trying to save him, Captain came down and said, ‘Guys, it’s not gonna work,’” Green recalled.
An official cause of death has not yet been released. Notably, Meadows’ mother, Angela Meadows, told TMZ that her son took a blow to the head while working aboard the Aleutian Lady about a month before he died. He suffered a concussion and spent a week recovering at home in Washington before returning to work. It’s unclear whether that head injury played any kind of role in his death.
As for Green, he explained to us that the Aleutian Lady was about “12 hours away” from Dutch Harbor in Alaska when they exhausted all rescue efforts. He said the crew then made the difficult decision to wrap Todd’s body in a tarp, place it in the freezer to preserve it and head back to town.
“When somebody’s life is on the line, it’s kind of, like, all the training and everything — you try to do the best you can. And everybody did do — I just want to reiterate that — everybody did everything they could do,” Green insisted before admitting that Todd was not wearing a lifejacket.
He elaborated, “On this boat, we don’t wear lifejackets. I don’t really know what the reason is. I know it sounds silly because to somebody who’s not [in this field], it does seem kind of crazy. Like, ‘Why would somebody not wear a lifejacket?’ But it’s just, like, when you’re working 18, 20 hours a day, it’s just another piece of gear, and it’s just a hassle. I don’t really know why we don’t wear them, to be honest.”
Green described the experience as an “eye-opener” that put his job “into perspective.”
“I’ve thought, ‘Oh, if I would go overboard at nighttime, you’re dead.’ I mean, at nighttime, you’re dead. But during the day, you’re like, ‘Well, if I go overboard, they’ll get me out, and I’ll be OK,’” he told us. “But this wasn’t a prolonged rescue, you know? This was, like, everybody did exactly what they needed to do. We got him on the boat as fast as we possibly could; it just wasn’t enough.”
Green went on to claim that “everything” that happened on the boat that day was caught on camera by Discovery Channel, which was on the tail end of filming for Season 22 of its popular reality series “Deadliest Catch.”
“Discovery has a deck cam that is like a stationary mounted deck camera that’s recording 24/7,” Green claimed. “So that camera in itself caught everything. Rick, the captain, he also has his own cameras that are for the boat. Those also captured everything. And then also, during the whole rescue mission, the producer and the camera guy were also on deck filming the entire rescue. So there’s multiple angles. I mean, they got everything.”
When reached for comment, a rep for Discovery Channel told Page Six, “This remains an active US Coast Guard investigation. We are assisting in their efforts and cannot comment at this time.”
Meanwhile, a rep for the USCG told us that the organization is “investigating the case to determine the causes and provide the necessary feedback to prevent similar accidents from reoccurring.
“The Coast Guard Investigating Officer is currently working with a team of qualified marine casualty investigators to compile evidence. The Investigating Officer will then create an official account and timeline of the incident to determine: (1) the cause or contributing factors, (2) evidence of misconduct or negligence, (3) whether there was a failure of material, and (4) if any personnel from the Coast Guard or other government agency caused or contributed to the cause of the incident.
“This process is vital to drawing accurate conclusions and initiating any necessary corrective actions to prevent similar accidents and casualties from occurring in the future.”
The rep said “findings will not be disclosed while the case is open” and that the USCG “does not assign a timeline for completing an investigation.”
Shelford has not responded to Page Six’s requests for comment. Todd’s family members have also been contacted.
Todd leaves behind three young sons and absolutely devastated loved ones, many of whom have posted heartbreaking tributes on social media.
In his Facebook post announcing the shocking news, Shelford shared that Todd’s “love for fishing and his strong work ethic earned everyone’s respect right away.”
Green echoed those sentiments, telling us, “We all go out there to make money and make a living, and all of us love it to a certain degree. But Todd … he was more excited about doing this, like, almost to the point where he would have done it for free. He was just one of those guys that was ecstatic to be up there, you know?”
He described the enthusiasm Todd brought to the craft as “refreshing,” adding, “He was just one of those guys that was just happy to be up there. And it kind of just ignited — it just kind of reminded all of us why we were up there doing what we were doing.”
