Several years ago we had the honor of interviewing one of the star captains from the Discovery Channel's hit show Deadliest Catch. Sig Hansen had just published his book, North by Northwestern: A Seafaring Family on Deadly Alaskan Waterswhich went on to become a New York Times bestseller.

He was smart, funny, introspective, informative, fascinating, and we could have chatted with him for hours! So we were sad to hear that Captain Hansen suffered a heart attack yesterday, (March 2, 2016) while filming on the deck of his ship, the Northwestern. 

He actually collapsed and was unconscious for a bit, all while the cameras were rolling. When he regained consciousness and wanted to continue crabbing, (fishing for crab that is, not complaining) his crew convinced him otherwise and he was airlifted to a nearby hospital, where he is reported to be "in good spirits".

Sig has been with Deadliest Catch since it hit the air back in 2002 as technical adviser and star. He is not the first hardworking, hard-living captain and cast member of the show to suffer a health emergency. Captain Phil Harris (who helmed the Cornelia Marie) died from a stroke in 2010 and Captain Tony Lara who succeeded Harris as the captain of that same ship died from a heart attack last August, while attending the Sturgis Motorcyle Rally.

Sig's career path has taken him to some very interesting places along the way. He was a competitor on the 14th season of Celebrity Apprentice with non other than Donald Trump and he was the voice of Crabby the Boat in the movie Cars 2.

We wish him a speedy recovery, long life and hope that he considers revamping what he refers to as his "Norwegian Fisherman's Diet" (coffee, chocolate & cigarettes) the next time he's out crab fishing.


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