'Deadliest Catch' cast member details Todd Meadows' death

Deckhand Trey John Green III described how Todd Meadows, 25, went overboard from the Aleutian Lady about 170 miles north of Dutch Harbor on the afternoon of Feb. 25. Green said the Bering Sea was unusually calm though only a degree or two above freezing, and that crew members had been climbing into baited, rigid crab pots to sift their catch.

He said Meadows was inside a roughly 900-pound pot when it went over the rail and back into the water, prompting screams and confusion among the crew. Green ran to the stern, climbed onto the pots and saw Meadows fighting to stay afloat. He said Meadows was in the water for three or four minutes before the ship’s designated rescue swimmer, Steve Porter, recovered his lifeless body.

The crew performed CPR and used a defibrillator during a rescue effort that lasted about half an hour to 45 minutes. With the Aleutian Lady about 12 hours from Dutch Harbor, the crew said they exhausted their options, wrapped Meadows in a tarp, placed his body in the freezer to preserve it and returned to port.

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