Johnathan Hillstrand’s Greenhorn Deckhand Suffers Gnarly Injury

For the captains of Deadliest Catch, it’s not only Mother Nature they have to deal with on their respective vessels. It’s also managing the danger that comes to crew members as well. Within such a labor intensive line of work, they have to prepare for the unexpected and what might occur when the conditions deteriorate. 

Sig Hansen and Johnathan Hillstrand had to go into first-aid mode during a particular run of bad weather during the August 14 episode, with the latter dealing with an injury that occurred in a way you wouldn’t expect. Jake Anderson didn’t leave unscathed aboard the Carnelia Marie.    

See the latest that happened on the Discovery Channel hit show below. 

Johnathan Hillstrand 

Johnathan Hillstrand (Discovery Channel)

A storm was rolling in on St. George Island with the Time Bandit still needing to catch 30,000 pounds. After taking shelter, Johnathan braced for a tough time getting the boat out of the harbor, steering through breakers and a rocky shoreline. The waves were bigger than he thought they would be. There were some dicey moments, but the team made it through. After working through a big wave, Johnathan kidded to his wife onboard, “I did that for you for Valentine’s Day, Heather.” 

Things became serious when the veteran captain went for a nap. The boat was swaying, which caused greenhorn Ryan to get hurt. He fell off the bunk bed and smacked his head. Johnathan was alerted and rushed to the scene. Ryan had blood gushing out of his head. He apparently landed on a table. They laid him down and kept an eye on him. “If he starts throwing up, we got problems,” Johnathan warned. Ryan said he wasn’t feeling good and didn’t even remember what happened. The return trip was easier said than done thanks to big swells. Johnathan showed his skill, narrowly avoiding disaster and returning to the island to take Ryan to the clinic. 

 Jake Anderson

Jake Anderson (Discovery Channel)

Jake was reaching his breaking point with back-to-back storms. He had an offload coming up, setting his strategy for offloading gear. The conditions were so bad he couldn’t even see the waves behind him. It was likened to a freight train coming through. The main objective remained the same: to get the crab on the boat and head out for the offload.

Pots weren’t where Jake wanted them to be. Making matters worse, the boat lost power. An engineer looked into the issue, and sparks blew up in his face. The generator input tripped the breaker. The thermoplastic of an $11 screwdriver prevented a potential catastrophe. There were no hydraulics, electricity, or toilets. The wires grounded out the breakers. The team got a generator online, leaving Jake with one last hope of meeting his offload. His fortunes changed with gear numbers reaching 420 and 575. It came down to the wire, but Jake hit the jackpot. 

Sig Hansen

Sig Hansen (Discovery Channel)

On the Northwestern, the crew was on edge with violent seas and an offload in a couple of days working toward 100,000 pounds of copies to catch. Captain in training Sophia “Bob” Nielsen suggested moving further parallel toward a believed honey hole. Sig decided to give it a try with 50 pots to deploy. Bob was tasked with spotting waves off the port side for the safety of the crew. At one point, Karl, a deck boss, suffered a cut to his hand after a knife pierced through his jacket. Sig grabbed the hydrogen peroxide as he was bleeding. Bob took the wheel while Sig assisted the crew member. “It’s deeper than I thought,” Sig concluded. He patched him up. They hope it wasn’t infected, but the area was oozing and there was some purple bruising after he was checked out.

Meanwhile, Bob hoped her “Bob-tuition” paid off and they could find some serious crab. Bob noticed Sig’s son-in-law Clark Pederson shaking his hand, which was bothering him. He applied some ice with Bob offering to go on deck to help the guys. “I think one catastrophe is enough,” Sig said. “I don’t want to take that chance.” They did find good crab. Clark tried to work through the pain, but time was ticking and Sig grew frustrated. Bob dressed up and headed to the deck to show what she could do. Sig was impressed by her spunk. 

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