Deadliest Catch

As the powerful hurricane and the strong winds and heavy seas that it brought along with it finally subside, the entire fleet struggles to repair the damaged done by Mother Nature. Over on the North American, the deck boards have been broken up, steel plates cracked on deck and bait and gear scattered. The storm and it’s fury have caused around $5,000 in damage to the boat but most importantly the captain and crew have escaped harm. Over on the Early Dawn, the crew also has plenty of damage to repair, however time in of the essence as their current position puts them in the path of another storm including possible seas of around 40 feet. In less than an hour the crew is able to scramble and patch up the deck as well as tie down any loose pieces of equipment.

Damage done to the boats is easy to fix, however on the Cornelia Marie it is Captain Phil Harris who was beat up the most. While laying in his bunk he was jarred loose by a heavy wave rolling the boat, throwing him into the corner of some furniture and possibly breaking several ribs. The resulting injury has made breathing a painfully enduring process. Captain Phil, however, has no time to worry about his own health and returns to his wheelhouse a few hours later to return to work. His condition worsens and soon along with the pain comes the sign of something much more seriously wrong when he begins coughing up blood. At first he tells the Discovery Channel’s producer, not to say anything as he knows it would weigh heavy on the minds of his two boys on board and needs them to stay focused on the job at hand.

Captain Phil’s condition slowly worsens and he decides to confide in his long time friend Murray about his symptoms. Murray figures that there is a good chance when he broke his ribs he also punctured a lung resulting in the difficult breathing and apparent internal bleeding. Again Capt. Phil asks Murray not to tell either of the captain’s boys. It isn’t long however, that Murray decides that Phil’s life is too important to risk and shares the information with his sons, Jake and Josh. Josh quickly confronts his father in the wheelhouse and tells him he needs to start thinking about his health as the money just isn’t important enough to risk his life. Before he leaves Captain Keith on board the Wizard calls over to the Cornelia Maria on the radio and Phil describes his situation. Captain Keith tells him to take care of himself and not to be afraid of calling the Coast Guard if he needed to. Taking all of this advice, Captain Phil decides to set the gear one last time and head to the nearest hospital at St. Paul. With the approaching storm, the Cornelia Marie is forced to circle the island until the seas subside. Captain Phil then makes his way to the hospital, and they immediately find that there is no puncture or broken ribs as suspected. However he needs to be seen by a specialist as the test reveals there is definitely something serious going on causing his symptoms.