Rick Ness Opens Up About His Health Scare and Sleep Apnea on 'Gold Rush' - Yahoo

In the season 17 premiere of Gold Rush, Rick Ness was noticeably missing as his crew arrived at Duncan Creek ready to begin another mining season. Crew members Jason and Heather Folster had made it to Rick's site, but they hadn't heard from their boss and didn't know what his plan was. When Ness finally appeared, viewers learned his absence wasn't simply another mining setback. He had been dealing with a frightening health problem that he said had begun to take over his life. "I can tell you, I don't feel good," Ness told his longtime friend and confidant Brian "Zee" Zaremba during the Oct. 2 premiere. "I can't concentrate, pay attention to anything, I can't stay awake. "Ness said things had become particularly scary over the winter when he began sleepwalking. "I woke up on the floor of my bathroom three times," he revealed, explaining that he'd hit his head on the toilet during the falls and injured both his nose and head. Even more alarming was Ness' inability to stay awake. During his conversation with Zaremba, he appeared to fall asleep while resting on his hand. Ness also recalled falling asleep while standing up. "That ain't no joke anymore," he admitted. Zaremba agreed.