Jake Anderson Medical Emergency as Serious Infection Spreads Among Crew

When it comes to a docuseries or reality TV, the focus is normally on those regularly featured on screen. However, during the September 4 episode of Deadliest Catch saw a rare occasion where those behind the camera were actually part of the show. The serious nature of what was happening meant Jake Anderson had to act quickly.  

In the midst of all that, the Cornelia Marie also needed to keep adding to their crab numbers with an offload coming up. Rick Shelford had his own objective as he gambled on a plan that may be put on ice…literally. Stormy conditions made things difficult for Sig Hansen where he and his crew once again had to work through whatever Mother Nature had in store for them. 

Let’s unpack all that occurred on the Discovery Channel series. 

Jake Anderson 

Jake Albinio (Discovery Channel)

Cornelia Marie was dealing with something that could have been written for a movie. It all started when Jake Albinio, relief captain, alerted Jake about an infection on his face. Jake put on gloves to inspect the area and hoped to work the infection with an injection. He thought applying some Neosporin would be the end of it. They had an offload coming in three days, six weeks into the winter season with a small crew and 40 pots to haul. Things went bad to worse when producer and camera operator Matt Holland said his face started to swell significantly. He said he needed a break. At which fellow producer and camera operator Sam Henderson sat with him. Matt told Jake he normally had a high tolerance for pain, but met his match. Jake thought Amoxicillin might help. They kept an eye on him, and with one “backstage” hand down, a mounted camera chronicled activity on deck. A fascinating peek behind the curtain, so to speak. 

The antibiotics weren’t working. Jake called Lisa Roberts, supervising producer, to explore what to do next. Would they just need a doctor or even a medevac? They decided the best option was to get back to town and head to St. Paul. The crew worked to clean everything Matt had touched, so whatever was happening didn’t spread. Off the boat, Matt checked in to reveal he had an infection that came through a pore, but grew inward and was pressing on his trigeminal nerve. Scarily, it’s something that could have caused Bell’s Palsy or permanent nerve damage or paralysis in his face. He was told 10 days of no work. 

Jake’s team continued to look for crab with no room for error filling their remaining tank. Cody, a deckhand, said he had something on his eye that was swollen. Another named Josh expressed concern about something on his lip. Another colleague named Cody showed a cause for concern on his knee. The infection had gone through the boat. Jake needed to go back to land to get the team treated. Thankfully, each was treated with proper antibiotics to return to the job at hand of bairdi fishing. 

Rick Shelford

Rick Shelford (Discovery Channel)

The Aleutian Lady captain expected ice to be gone in order for him to fulfill his bairdi quota quickly. He planned to set gear toward the ice, thinking it would dissipate in two days. The crew looked a little skeptical about that happening. Despite any doubts, they listen to Rick by setting the gear in place. Rick overall still felt good and hoped the crab would still be there as he still needed 209,000 to put on the boat. Ice still popped up on the radar, which he didn’t expect. The ice never retreated or melted, forcing the Aleutian Lady to travel through the area at night in hopes of recovering the pots. If they aren’t able to do this, it would eat into their profits significantly. The numbers weren’t there of the ones they were bringing aboard. Rick needed to make the most of what was left out there, but the ice proved too thick. He wasn’t confident about retrieving the pots, which could accumulate a loss of $100,000.  “I just can’t give up.” Rick said. 

Sig Hansen 

Sig Hansen (Discovery Channel)

The Northwestern captain had 50 pots on deck with a good idea there was fishing around him. Though the weather had been killing them. Sig saw a small window between storms at what was called a saddle point (who said Deadliest Catch wasn’t educational?). The meteorological zone would keep them safe from 70-mile gusts and 20-foot seas for a time. They were basically in the eye of the storm where the crew had to work quickly to offload the pots before the weather deteriorated. Sig had to change direction as that happened sooner than later.

The vessel went deeper than Sig wanted. There were two strings of 20 pots to haul. The crab numbers weren’t moving the needle. It was night, so this made it hard to see the waves. “It would be nice to have a spotter over there,” he said, maybe missing Sophia “Bob” Nielsen right about now. Despite the conditions, the guys were attempting to work through the challenges. Sig went back and forth in the wheelhouse to steer and navigate as the swells poured over the boat. “Kind of exhausting,” the producer said. “For a smoker,” Sig responded. His efforts ultimately pay off in the form of crab. He felt like he found the buried treasure. “All you have to do is dig.” he explained. 

Deadliest Catch, Fridays, 8/7c, Discovery Channel