Todd Meadows’ sister, Mackenzie Meadows, said that “no words put together can even describe the pain we’re going through,” following the death of the “Deadliest Catch” star at age 25.
“His boys will see him through pictures, and we will see him through his boys,” Mackenzie continued to Us Weekly on Tuesday.
Todd’s father, Lucas Meadows, told Alaska’s News Source that same day that his son “got involved with fishing with me probably from the time he was 3. It’s been a passion of his, his whole life.”
The reality star’s parents said that Todd worked for a charter fishing boat in northern Washington for many years before coming aboard the Aleutian Lady.
“He had a smile on his face the whole time,” Lucas recalled. “Good day, bad day, didn’t matter. He always had a smile. He loved to fish and loved to watch other people fish.”
“He wanted to own a boat one day and be the captain,” Todd’s mother, Angela added. “When he sets his mind to something, I mean, he just doesn’t give up.”
The Meadows said Todd joined the Aleutian Lady through a friend, but wasn’t thrilled with having to go crabbing for the Discovery Channel show.
“They would have to stop everything they were doing, re-film stuff just for the show, which really irritated him,” Lucas divulged. “He just wanted to work.”
Following news of Todd’s tragic passing, his friends and family launched a GoFundMe to support his three boys.
“I want his memory to be a good memory everywhere,” Angela explained. “It never mattered what anybody had to say about him, good or bad. He wasn’t out there to make friends. He wasn’t out there to click with people. He was just out there to work and to do what he loved.”
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed to Page Six that on Feb. 25, Todd had fallen overboard approximately 170 miles north of Dutch Harbor.
The fisherman was recovered from the water by crew members about 10 minutes later. He was unresponsive, so they administered first aid and attempted to resuscitate him but were unsuccessful.
The crew was filming the reality fishing show at the time of his tragic passing.
The USCG spokesperson said that the organization is currently investigating the situation, which is standard protocol with all marine casualties and accidents.
Captain Rick Shelford first announced the deckhand’s death in a heartbreaking Facebook post over the weekend, describing it as “the most tragic day in the history of the Aleutian Lady on the Bering Sea.”
The Bering Sea is known as one of the most dangerous bodies of water in the world due to its shallow depth and extremely cold sea temperatures.
In his post, Rick remembered Tim as a “brother.”
Trey John Green III, who was aboard the fishing vessel when the accident occurred claimed to us on Tuesday that filming would pick back up this week.
“We are just touching home for 2-3 days then heading back to Dutch [Harbor in Alaska] to finish the season,” Green stated, noting that “Discovery was filming” when the incident occurred.
However, a network source told us that they were at the end of the production cycle when the accident occurred — noting that the Aleutian Lady was the last of the Season 22 vessels still at sea.
The insider insisted that filming for the season is now wrapped.
