How did Nick McGlashan Pass Away; Details Behind His Demise

It was with a heavy heart that we reported the death of Nick McGlashan a few months ago in late December. Now we will have to scratch old wounds again as we have more information on the youngster’s untimely death.

McGlashan passed away at a very early age of 33 years on December 27, 2020. He was found dead on December 28th at a Holiday Inn in Nashville. The 33-year-old reportedly flew to Nashville from his hometown of Reddick, Florida to visit some friends there.

His death was confirmed by the Davidson County Medical Examiner, but no reports had come out until now, including the cause of his death. An insider with law enforcement later told TMZ that they suspected the possibility of drug involvement after drug paraphernalia were found nearby, but they were awaiting toxicology reports to confirm their estimations.

Nashville Center for Forensic Medicine investigator Krista Hammonds stated in her report at the time that this 33-year-old man was found unresponsive in the bathroom of his hotel room. The decedent had a known history of illicit drug abuse, she added in her report, which Deadliest Catch fans may be well aware of, given McGlashan’s past struggles with addiction.

However, he tried his best by checking himself into rehab in September of 2016. Nick was also kicked off the fishing vessel in Season 13, which aired in 2017, because his substance abuse was causing problems in his work.

Later, Nick would write about his struggle in the article The Deadliest Disease published in Chosen Magazine. “My life went from Bering Sea badass to full-blown junkie very rapidly. Hidden from me was that passion I had for life,” he wrote. “Taken from me was my ability to live. I was at war with my addiction, and it was winning.”

Now, The Sun has received the lab results and toxicology reports from Nick McGlashan’s autopsy. Unfortunately, it seems the investigators were right, as the forensic pathologist Dr. William McLean has confirmed that the Deadliest Catch star died as a result of the toxic effects of methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl.

It seems that Nick had relapsed, which is a common thing that happens to a lot of people, even after they have made a great recovery against their fight from addiction. Regardless, Nick seemed to be a better person than he was when previously struggling with substance abuse problems, as he returned to Deadliest Catch from the very next season.

He appeared altogether in over 80 episodes of Deadliest Catch from 2013 to 2020 and was famous for working as a deck boss aboard Captain Wild Bill’s ship, the FV Summer Bay. Captain Wild Bill was great friends with his father, also a ship captain, Bruce Lanford. Nick McGlashan was named after his great-uncle by the same name, who was one of the sailors of the first crabbing FV of the USA, known as FVDC, which was built in 1947.

Although his autopsy report stated that his legal name was the same as his father Bruce, it also pointed to his ethnicity as American Indian. Nick was a seventh-generation fisherman and thus had many other ancestors who were historic figures in the Bering Sea fishing industry, including his two aunts, one of whom was lost to the sea when her ship sunk.

McGlashan furthermore grew up on his father’s first boat, FV Wrestling. After he was just 13 years old and still in middle school, he would work on his homework on the ship with his shipmates helping him.

Nick’s life and then his death may not have been perfect, but that in no way means that he wasn’t a good human being. He was a loving husband to his wife Claire Hammond and a great father to their two children, Lenin and Kane.

[Music]
He also leaves behind his sister Melissa, who broke the news of her brother’s death on December 28th, writing, “My brother Nick passed away. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through. Please hold your loved ones tight.”

His Deadliest Catch co-stars will also most definitely miss him. One of his closest friends from the show, Landon Cheney, also took to social media to write:

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Behold, I am making all things new. Rest easy, my brother.”

He added in the end, “We are praying for McGlashan’s family, as we know how hard it is to keep having to hear about your departed loved ones over the news.”