The Truth About Gold Rush's Fred Lewis

Fans of Discovery's "Gold Rush" were first introduced to Fred Lewis when he joined Jordan Schnabel's small team for "Gold Rush: Parker's Trail" in 2019. Originally, Fred was not featured as a miner on the show, and instead was extra muscle. "Well, I was hired on that job as medic and security for the team because they were going into Papua, New Guinea, and they wanted to have a little extra beef," he told Monsters & Critics in 2020. Fred was qualified for the job after serving 14 years in the military, but he struggled to settle on a career path after leaving the armed forces. He got a master's in education and tried teaching and coaching, but continued to bounce around until working for Jordan's crew, per Military.com.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fred found himself out of work since he could not travel to the Yukon in Canada. Never one to remain idle, the burgeoning reality star put together his own mining crew. "I'm either going to be sitting here doing nothing, unemployed again, or do something for myself," he told Monsters & Critics of his thought process. Fred assembled a crew of former military veterans who had been injured in the line of duty. 

Fred himself was injured while serving in the military as well. Keep reading to find out more about Fred's own harrowing injury sustained while on duty. 

During Fred Lewis' military career, he toured in Africa, Korea, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The "Gold Rush: Winter's Fortune" star left the service in 2011 after sustaining a nearly-fatal injury in Afghanistan: He was hit in the helmet with a sniper round. "It was a million dollar shot," Fred told the Tri-City Herald in 2018. Although the helmet saved his life, his neck was badly injured from the impact of the shot and he broke a vertebrae. Fred was classified as disabled by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and started his life as a civilian. "You talk to the VA, you are disabled," he told the Herald. "That's what they expect you to accept."

The veteran had a difficult time accepting not only his physical limitations, but his post-military life. "I went through a pretty tough transition when I got out," he told Monsters & Critics in 2020. "I went from being active-duty in combat to disabled-and-unemployed. And that's a pretty tough transition," Fred added. The "Gold Rush" standout mentioned on the series that he believes the military was "overwhelmed" with too many injured soldiers. "The care we get is a quick fix, you know, 'Take these pills, and you'll feel better,'" he explained, per Military.com.

Fortunately, Fred was able to make a full recovery, and his passion for physical training led him to an appearance on another popular television show before winding up on "Gold Rush." Keep reading to find out more.

After leaving the armed forces, Fred Lewis turned his focus on training his body alongside fellow veterans. "So, that trouble I went through led me eventually to adaptive sports, to working out with wounded warriors together," he told Monsters & Critics in 2020. Fred admitted he became borderline obsessive about hitting the gym. "I work out way too much," he admitted to the Tri-City Herald in 2018. 

That training paid off, though, as Fred was one of the few applicants to make it onto "American Ninja Warrior." At the time, the former Green Beret described the show as the most physically demanding feat he had endured. "This is more stressful than anything I have done in combat. It's the hardest thing I have ever done in my life," he told the Herald. Fred revealed the biggest challenge of the show was being unable to practice on the obstacle courses beforehand.

Using adaptive sports to train gave Fred a connection to "Gold Rush" long before he ever appeared on the show. While training, Fred became good friends with a veteran named Kendall, who happened to be the nephew of "Gold Rush" castmate Freddy Dodge. "We competed at the warrior games together. So we've, we've been training together for years," Fred said to Monsters & Critics. It seems like Fred's past struggles has led him to right where he's supposed to be.