“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,’” Trey John Green III said.

Deadliest Catch star details harrowing rescue effort before Todd Meadows’ death

"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,'" Trey John Green III said.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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on March 5, 2026 6:41 p.m. ET

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Todd Meadows. Credit:

Captain RickShelford/Instagram

- *Deadliest Catch* star Trey John Green III detailed the rescue efforts that his crewmates undertook prior to the death of his costar, Todd Meadows.

- Green said that a crane attached to the harness for the designated rescue swimmer "broke" as the team attempted to reach Meadows after he fell overboard.

- Green said that Meadows fell back into the water when he was "almost back on the boat."

A *Deadliest Catch* star is sharing harrowing details about the attempt to save crewmate Todd Meadows before his tragic death.

Meadows died at 25 on Feb. 25 after falling overboard from the Aleutian Lady fishing vessel. His costar, Trey John Green III, told Page Six that the crew did "everything they could" to rescue Meadows.

Green claimed that although the Bering Sea was "flat" and "calm" on the day of the tragedy, the water temperature was "only a degree or two above freezing" when his crewmate fell overboard.

As soon as the accident occurred, Green ran to the back of the ship to keep his sights on Meadows. "I see Todd. He's floating, he's swimming," he said. "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 that the Aleutian Lady turned around and got within a few feet of Meadows. "Todd's still alive, he's still swimming, he's still trying to hang in there," he said. "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."

That's when a critical piece of equipment failed. "When Steve jumped in the water, the harness that was attached to the crane actually broke," Green said, explaining that the crew sent a life sling attached to a crane into the water.

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Though Meadows managed to climb into the sling, he "fell back into the water" when he was "almost back on the boat," which meant that the crew had to rescue him again.

"The second time we went to go lift him up, Todd was just — he was lifeless," Green said. "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."

Todd Meadows/Facebook

Green said that although Meadows was only in the water for "three or four minutes," he was visibly "turning blue" by the time he was back onboard, at which point the crew began performing CPR immediately.

"We finally brought him inside and continued CPR," he said. "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.'"

Rick Shelford, the captain of the Aleutian Lady, announced Meadows' death on Monday, describing the day of the incident as "the most tragic day in the history of the Aleutian Lady on the Bering Sea."

Shelford wrote, "Todd was the newest member of our crew. He quickly became family. His love for fishing and his strong work ethic earned everyone’s respect right away. His smile was contagious, and the sound of his laughter coming up the wheelhouse stairs or over the deck hailer is something we will carry with us always."

A spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard later told EW that officials received word of Meadows' death at 5:05 p.m. on Feb. 25. "A crew member by the name of Todd Meadows fell overboard approximately 170 miles north of Dutch Harbor," the spokesperson said. "He was recovered unresponsive by the crew approximately 10 minutes later. First aid and attempts to resuscitate were unsuccessful, and the crew transported the deceased to Dutch Harbor."

Green previously told *Us* that the accident was captured on camera. "It was filmed, unfortunately," Green said. "There is a deck cam as well that records 24-7, everything, and it caught everything from the incident as well."

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Discovery, the network on which *Deadliest Catch* has aired since it began in 2005, also issued a statement addressing Meadows' death.

"We are deeply saddened by the tragic passing of Todd Meadows," a representative for the network told EW. "This is a devastating loss, and our hearts are with his loved ones, his crewmates, and the entire fishing community during this incredibly difficult time."

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