In Season 12, Episode 18 of “Deadliest Catch,” Sig Hansen can be seen discussing how stressful the season has been for him. After saying that the season won’t end until the Northwestern makes it to Seattle, Hansen struggles to complete his next sentence and clutches his chest, admitting that he’s in pain. When asked by a producer if there’s anything wrong, Hansen defiantly replies, “We’re doing your interview. I’m not dying.”
Hansen turned out to be wrong, as Discovery essentially filmed him having a heart attack at sea. He could have died that day. as he revealed during an interview with Hoda Kotb and Matt Lauer just months before the 12th season was set to air, “I was lucky, that was a 50/50 chance,” the captain said.
Luck was definitely on his side because Hansen was only about an hour from port after completing the season when he started to complain of chest pains. At first, Hansen didn’t think it was anything more than just some muscle pain in his chest and arm that may have come about from bad sleep. But he later found out that he had suffered from a specific type of heart attack known as the “widowmaker.” This type of heart attack is one of the more deadly. “As heart attacks go, a widowmaker can be particularly lethal because of the location and extent of the blockage,” the University of Michigan health blog explains.
