Capt. Phil of the F/V Cornelia Marie
In an article titled, Brushes with Death Standard for ‘Deadliest Catch’ Star, written by Rodney Ho of 
the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Capt Phil Harris of the F/V Cornelia Marie gives details on his major brush that took place during the last season. God bless him, his family, and the entourage of people who came to his assistance and pulled him through what must have been a horrific experience! (Photo is courtesy of Discovery)
…Broken ribs, broken wrists, broken arms, broken back.
For Phil Harris, that’s standard fare trolling the Alaskan seas for snow and Alaskan crab, a lifestyle chronicled in Discovery Channel’s most successful series to date, “Deadliest Catch.”
to Atlanta last week to meet with advertisers and media, including a lunch at the downtown Hooters. “It takes me 20 minutes to get out of bed every morning. I’ve had Marines come on the boat. They say this makes boot camp look like a picnic.”
The name “Deadliest Catch” is no exaggeration. Pro fishermen have one of the highest mortality rates of any profession. In fact, one of Harris’ workers once fell out of his boat and died. Tumbling into the chilly Alaskan waters is pretty much a death sentence, he said. The tradeoff: fishing is lucrative. You can earn well into the six figures — if you can survive the lifestyle.
Harris has, often clearing $500,000 a year. He owns a huge lakeside home in Seattle, two Harleys and a $100,000 Z06 Corvette. He gets five months off a year. As captain of the Cornelia Marie for 17 years, the 51-year-old ranks in the top five in volume among the 70 boats that vie for crab. (Ironically, Harris hates eating Alaskan snow crab, which is featured on the Hooters menu with the note “dangerous to catch, fun to eat.”)
And while Harris no longer has to do the heavy lifting anymore — his two sons help him out — he is hardly immune to injury. In a scene to be shown later this season, a monster wave pummeled his boat in January, causing him to fall out of his bunk. He punctured a lung and broke his ribs. But his condition worsened after a blood clot dislodged from his leg and traveled to his heart.
Harris almost died from a pulmonary aneurysm, and the remains of the clot are still life-threatening.
“I’m eating massive amounts of medicine” to break down the clot, he says. “I take them every day and pray.”
Then, turning to the Discovery publicist, Harris says mischievously, “You know what the ratings would have been if I had died? Hot diggity dog! He’s a dead man!”
Make the jump and read the rest!
Filed under: Deadliest Catch 4, Phil Harris | Tagged: Crab Fishing, Deadliest Catch, Discovery, Phil Harris, rogue wave
Hi there , last week when you called out for fishing help and nobody would pick up it piss me off a little I don,t no if that the way it works if so that sucks.I hope you are doing better now you really worried me last week. all of you be safe out thier.
Phil when you asked for help last week and no one would help i was pissed off i almost shut off the TV but i didnt so I hear you made some other capt.’s mad and that is why they didnt help well to bad you helped Blake that useless piece of crap last season and being the best CAPTAIN on the bearing sea iam sure you have helped other capt.’s before too also i heard that you have a big head is why they were mad well that is because you are the best on the sea so dont let the romors get to ya and get well soon i will be praying for you some day i would love to meet you Bryce