The Deadliest Catch community lost one of their own recently. On Saturday, TMZ reported that Mahlon Reyes, a deckhand who last appeared on Deadliest Catch in 2015, had died. He was 38. Naturally, the tragic news shocked fans of the series. Since there are likely many questions surrounding Reyes and what led to his death, here’s everything you need to know about the situation.
What happened to Reyes? The deckhand reportedly suffered a heart attack on the morning of Saturday, July 25, in his hometown of Whitefish, Montana. He survived the heart attack, but he never regained consciousness following the medical emergency. His wife told TMZ that they decided to take him off of life support on Sunday, with his loved ones by his side. Reyes’ family was not aware of any pre-existing health conditions that he may have had. While the results have not yet come in from the autopsy and toxicology, Reyes’ wife said that he suffered a massive heart attack. Reyes was cremated, and his crew from Deadliest Catch have plans to spread some of his ashes in the Bering Sea.
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Reyes was a 38-year-old deckhand who appeared on crab fishing boats on Deadliest Catch. He leaves behind a wife and four children. The deckhand was said to have been recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, which he suffered after crabbing on a boat. He was in the process of healing so that he could travel to Alaska for another crab season.
During his time on Deadliest Catch, Reyes worked on two boats, the Seabrooke and Cape Caution. He also worked under Captain “Wild” Bill Wichrowski on one of his fishing teams. Prior to Season 15 of the Discovery series, Wichrowski opened up to PopCulture.com about the show. In the process, he painted a picture of what life is like for himself, Reyes, and others who put themselves in the position to go crabbing along with the crew. “Everybody talks about the weather — there’s gonna be weather every year, but we had the one storm last year that … I hadn’t been afraid, probably, in 25 years and I was afraid and that takes a lot,” Wichrowski shared in 2019. He also opened up about how one of the men on his boat, Spencer Moore, went overboard the Summer Bay in Season 14, which is a situation that he hated to even talk about. “I get choked up talking about that. I’ve done this for 40-something years and never had a man in the water. So that was pretty hairy.”
