‘Below Deck’ Star Captain Lee Rosbach Opens Up About Son’s Tragic Death

Below Deck star Captain Lee Rosbach recently lost his son to an overdose. Josh Rosbach was only 42-years-old when his father found him dead in his home. Captain Lee initially spoke out about his son’s death on Twitter and Instagram, letting his followers know the sad news, but he has stayed relatively silent on the matter, until now. The “Stud of the Sea” spoke with Page Six, revealing some eerie details about how he found his son and how he and his wife have been trying to cope since the tragedy.

According to Captain Lee, his son had been clean for six months after suffering from opioid addiction for over 20 years. He and his wife thought things had finally changed for their son and thought they had hit a real milestone. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Captain Lee discussed how he went over to his son’s house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to check on him and walked in to find Josh sitting on the couch.

“I walked in and he was sitting on the sofa with his head in his hands, and I thought he had just passed out. I felt relieved. I thought he was fine,” he recalled. “Then I went over to give him a hug, and he was cold. He’d gone.”

The medical examiner concluded that Josh had relapsed and had taken pills. The doctors believed Josh bought opioids that turned out to be counterfeits. The pills were laced with heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl.

“I hate going to sleep, and I hate waking up. There’s a hole there that can’t be filled,” Captain Lee later explained.

The longtime captain also explained how his wounds will never heal, but that he is learning to cope with his son’s death every day. Captain Lee has also admitted that he hardly laughs anymore and his toughest times are when he’s on his own.

Captain Lee plans on helping in the fight against the serious opioid addiction problem in this country, but isn’t quite ready to commit his time to it just yet.

“I don’t want to start something, then not be able to finish it,” he explained.

The reality star is hoping that speaking up about his grief and telling Josh’s story can help other families who are going through the same situation.

Captain Lee can be seen on the current season of Below Deck. The show airs every Monday night at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.