Deadliest Catch Season 12 comes to its scary conclusion tonight — with the story and aftermath of Sig Hansen’s heart attack played out in all its horror.
The captain of The Northwestern came close to death when he suffered the cardiac arrest out at sea following fierce storms while looking for snow crab.
The footage, captured in the videos below, makes disturbing viewing as his attack plays out moment by moment with cameras rolling.
It starts off with Sig puffing on a cigarette as he chillingly predicts that he won’t feel done with the season until he gets to Seattle.
Moments later he stops mid sentence as the arrest starts to take hold, with Sig buckling over and saying breathlessly: “Oh, God.”
He then touches his chest and says: “I don’t understand why it hurts so much right here.”
The producer asks him what’s wrong but he says defiantly: “Nothing, we’re doing your interview. I’m not dying. So just let that go.”
He rolls up his sleeves calmly, before, suddenly, the attack takes full hold of him and he starts grimacing while writhing in his chair, gripping tightly with his hands.
The producer says, worriedly: “Sig, do you want me to see if the clinic’s open?”
Sig, writhing in pain and starting to lose the color from his face, says again: “Oh, my God.” He then describes it as feeling like a “knot”.
The producer, with a more purposeful voice, says: “Sig, honestly, if you’re having chest problems.” But Sig replies: “Honestly, I don’t know what it is.”
The producer says: “The chest and left arm isn’t good.”
Sig, still remaining positive, replies: “I know, I know that. I’m saying left arm could just be a cramp. It could be bad sleep.”
He then lifts up his shirt and rubs his chest saying: “It’s right here. It’s like a muscle thing.”
Finally he admits: “Something’s wrong.”
Watch the attack play out in the clip below, but be warned — it can be hard to watch at times.
A separate clip posted on Twitter shows more of the ending, as Sig stops the interview and heads below deck — describing the pain as like a “vice like grip”.
He then says: “I think I had a small heart attack.” But small it was not.
Tune in tonight to watch the full episode and the conclusion to Sig’s ordeal after he finally agrees to be airlifted to safety. The episode is called The Widowmaker: Part 2 and follows on from last week’s Part 1.
SNEAK PEEK! The season finale of #DeadliestCatch is here! https://t.co/jJWoMOpyVt
— Deadliest Catch (@DeadliestCatch) July 31, 2016
The season finale of Deadliest Catch is on Discovery tonight at 9/8c.