Angela Meadows, the mother of Deadliest Catch star Todd Meadows, has made a tragic plea to the show’s producers not to air any footage of her son’s fatal crash.
“We don’t want to see any footage of the accident and we don’t want Discovery to air it or make money off of our son’s death. We just want them to show the good things about Todd on that boat,” Angela told TMZ on Wednesday.
The late reality star’s mother also revealed that she requested footage of Todd playing crabs, which he loved so much, so he could “keep it as a keepsake video.”
Angela’s request comes shortly after other members of the Meadows family spoke out about Todd’s shocking death earlier this week.
“No words can even begin to describe the pain that we are going through and will continue to experience,” Todd’s sister Mackenzie told Us Weekly on Tuesday.
“His sons will see him through pictures, and we will see him through our sons.”
The same day, Todd’s father, Lucas Meadows, told Alaska News Source that his son “has been involved in fishing with me since he was probably 3 years old. It’s been a passion his whole life.”
Todd’s parents told the magazine that Todd worked for several years on a charter fishing boat in northern Washington before heading to the Aleutian Islands.
“He always had a smile on his face,” Lucas recalled. “It didn’t matter if it was a good day or a bad day. He was always smiling. He loved fishing and loved watching other people fish.”
Todd, 25, died Feb. 25 after falling while crabbing about 170 miles north of Dutch Harbor, the U.S. Coast Guard confirmed to Page Six.
Todd’s body was recovered by crew members 10 minutes after he fell into the water, but he was unresponsive and first aid and resuscitation attempts by crew members were futile.
The crew was filming a reality fishing show for Discovery Channel when the tragic accident occurred.
Captain Rick Shelford first announced the deckhand’s death in a heartbreaking Facebook post over the weekend, calling it “the most tragic day in the history of the Lady of the Aleutian Islands in the Bering Sea.”
In light of Todd’s death, his friends and family have set up a GoFundMe to support his three sons.
“I want his memories to be fond wherever he is,” Angela explained. “He didn’t really care what anyone said about him, for better or worse. He wasn’t there to make friends. He wasn’t there to get along with people. He was just there to do his job and do what he loved.”
