Nick McGlashan has died at the age of 33, his family confirmed today.
He was best known for starring as a deck boss on the Discovery Channel's hit show Deadliest Catch, where he had been a cast member since 2013.
Nick's cause of death is not yet known and his last Instagram post - a sunrise taken from a plane window -was shared less than three weeks ago.
"Be a sunrise in someone’s life today," Nick had told his followers.
Deadliest Catch viewers will remember Nick for his unrelenting presence on the boat, but away from the camera he struggled with a debilitating addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Nick fell into a downward spiral which led to producers stepping in to suspend him from the 13th series of the docu-series - which prompted the reality star to check into rehab.
At his lowest point, Nick was shooting up meth and heroin while drinking a half-gallon of vodka every day.
After overdosing three times, Nick managed to get sober in September 2016 and used his experience to try and help others get clean.
Opening up about his struggle in an article written for Chosen magazine, entitled The Deadliest Disease, Nick wrote: "Taken from me was my ability to live. I was at war with my addiction and it was winning."
He recalled how it got to the point that his 'mind, body, and spirit were so diseased' that he “welcomed [his] own death."
"To say I was lost would be an understatement," he said. "I was broken and soulless. I was living without any hope of happiness. All I wanted was to stay loaded. Every bit of happiness stripped away by a powerful, cunning, and baffling disease."
The star said that walking through the doors of the facility centre to get help was the 'scariest thing' he'd ever done but ultimately saved his life.
After getting sober, Nick continued his commitments on Deadliest Catch and continued to make regular appearances with the crew until 2020.
The show follows crab fishermen in the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and snow crab fishing seasons.
Its title comes from the high risk of injury or death associated with that line of work.
Nick's death is not the only tragedy to face the show in recent months.
Deckhand Mahlon Reyes died at the age of 38 in August after suffering a heart attack.
