William “Willbilly” Hathaway, a cast member on the National Geographic Channel reality show Wicked Tuna, died on Saturday due to injuries he sustained in a car accident. He was 36 years old. According to local news outlets, Hathaway was involved in a crash in Salisbury, Maryland after he swerved off a remote countryside road into a ditch. WBOC16 says that Maryland State Police received a 911 call from a concerned citizen who drove past a Toyota truck on Old Ocean City Road; the station then received numerous similar calls shortly afterwards. The incident took place around 4 p.m. local time. Hathaway, meanwhile, supposedly called his wife after the accident occurred and said he was alright. However, paramedics quickly arrived at the scene and found the reality star “slumped over the center console,” not breathing. The aforementioned news outlet claims he was taken to Peninsula Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Hathaway was allegedly forced off the road and into the ditch when another vehicle cut him off. His airbags reportedly never deployed. In response to this tragedy, friends and loved ones have started a Facebook fundraiser to raise money for Hathaway’s wife and their newborn daughter, Molly. A spokesperson for the Ocean CityFishing Community wrote on the page: “He was an exceptional human being whose passion was the sea. He always brightened the day of anyone he met. His wife and new born baby girl he was most proud of.” “Due to his untimely death we are asking for donations to help them stay on their feet while trying to survive this tragedy.” As of this writing, more than $56,500 of the $250,000 fundraising goal had been reached. Hathaway was part of the fishing crew on the Ocean City-based Foolish Pleasures vessel, which was featured on Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks. The series itself debuted in April of 2012. As detailed by Wikipedia, it “takes viewers into the unrelenting North Atlantic waters infamously spotlighted by the novel-turned-feature film The Perfect Storm.” View Slideshow: The Most Shocking Reality Star Deaths: Gone, But Not Forgotten There, the show “[follows] captains who are relied upon by their families, their shipmates, and by Gloucester itself, to haul in boatloads of the large but elusive bluefin.” Tragically, another Wicked Tuna star lost his life earlier this year. Nicholas Fudge died in July after a lengthy battle with substance abuse. He was only 28 years old. View Slideshow: Celebrities Who Died in 2018: In Memoriam We send our condolences to the friends, family members and loved ones of William “Willbilly” Hathaway. May he rest in peace.
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William Hathaway, Wicked Tuna Star, Dies in Fatal Car Crash
