Sad News: Captain Keith Colburn is Hospitalized after Breathing Difficulty

As people begin to lose their fear and caution over COVID, the pandemic continues to grow, claiming the lives of over 30 million people worldwide.

Most recently, Keith Colburn took to his Instagram to reveal that he too was recovering from the virus. He attempted to raise awareness of the severity of the symptoms and encouraged people to take vaccinations.

He revealed in his video posted on Saturday, April 17, from a hospital bed, that he had been under the weather for 20 days. He added that, for 10 days, he was able to function without even needing any medications as he self-quarantined. However, shortly after, he needed to get medical help after having difficulty breathing.

He explained that while the coronavirus was no longer in his system, he was still battling the symptoms of the life-threatening virus. The most alarming of these was pneumonia, which was causing him difficulty breathing and had him bedridden in a hospital for the last eight days.

He then proceeded to advocate for his fans to take the vaccine, as he knows from personal experience that it is much better to do that than to spend 20 days in a hospital or face even worse consequences from the virus’s deadlier symptoms, like respiratory failure.

Colburn must be well aware of the wide statistics of people who are hesitant to take the vaccine, and a good portion of that could be the fans of his show. He even wrote “COVID is real” in the caption, sharing his story in the hopes that it may help others take action to steer clear of the virus.

He added that it was nice to see that many comments Captain Keith received in his comment section were prayers and support, as well as people sharing their own personal struggles with the virus. Some were lamenting the loss of a loved one, while others were either recovering or still battling the disease.

Many fans echoed his advocacy to take the vaccine, with a few saying they would get vaccinated after seeing the video.

Captain Keith Colburn was not the only one among the wider cast of Deadliest Catch to contract the coronavirus. Andy Hillstrand, Colburn’s shipmate, was also reported to have tested positive for COVID. This is why Andy had to take a leave from shooting the latest season of the reality series. Josh Harris was brought on board to stand in place of Andy by Jonathan Hillstrand.

Furthermore, Nick McGlashan also came down with sickness on board, creating fear among the entire ship’s crew that he might have contracted COVID. They wasted no time in having him tested, which luckily came out negative. But the scare alone held them back from catching any crabs that day.