Sig Hansen, the 49-year-old face of the Discovery Channel’s hit reality television series, Deadliest Catch, almost joined one of the show’s more depressing and hopefully uncrowded clubs on Wednesday morning. That is, he almost died while the cameras were rolling for the upcoming 12th season of the long-running program.
The last time Sig and the crew of the Northwestern made a splash in the news, footage of the Seattle Seahawks fans reacting to the New England Patriots’ last-minute win at Super Bowl XLIX went viral. As heartbreaking a moment as this was for the Northwestern, however, it probably pales in comparison to what they witnessed when Sig collapsed on the deck of the ship, according to TMZ. The captain apparently didn’t think much of the incident, blaming exhaustion, but the show’s production staff insisted he seek immediate medical attention.
Which, as The Wrap later confirmed, was really the best thing Sig could do because he’d suffered a heart attack. The crab fisherman was airlifted to a local hospital, where his daughter Mandy Hansen published a now-deleted Instagram post about the incident. Prior to deletion, the post featured a shot of Sig lying awake in a hospital bed with the caption: “Capt survived the ‘widowmaker’ !! Beating a heart attack ain’t easy. Welcome back boss.”
Back in 2010, Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie suffered a stroke and died during production on the sixth season. The medical emergency was caught on camera, and a subsequent episode was dedicated to the late skipper’s memory. Years later, Tony Lara — who came on to captain the Cornelia Marie in Phil’s absence — died in his sleep.
By all accounts, it looks like Sig will recover from the heart attack. Let’s hope that he does, and that he’s able to return to the deck of the Northwestern, as angry Sig is one of the best parts of the show.
