At nine, Ezra Frech already had a message for anyone who felt different. More than a decade later, as the two-time Paralympic gold medalist lights up Dancing with the Stars, that childhood message is finding a new audience.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Fellow Paralympian Amy Purdy recently brought the moment back into the spotlight by sharing a clip of Frech’s appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The video captures a young Frech answering a question about children who struggle to fit in, and his response earned applause from the audience. Now, with Frech competing alongside professional dancer Daniella Karagach on Season 35 of Dancing with the Stars, Purdy believes his actions are giving that message even greater meaning.
Purdy shared the video with a caption reflecting on how Frech’s outlook has carried into adulthood. “My friend @EzraFrech at 9 years old, refusing to let his challenges define what was possible for him,” she wrote.
She then offered a reminder that extended beyond Frech’s own experience: “We all face challenges, but how our lives unfold often comes down to how we choose to see them and what we decide to do with them.”
The clip shows a nine-year-old Frech responding to a question about what he would tell children who feel different because of something about themselves. Rather than treating disability as the only form of hardship, he made it clear that everyone faces challenges, even when those struggles are not immediately visible.
“I’ll say everyone’s different whether you look different, you think different, or you act different,” Frech said. “Mine happens to be a look different, and it’s very obvious, but that doesn’t mean that a kid with four limbs doesn’t have any challenges.”
He continued, “Everybody has challenges and everybody stares at everybody. So, you just gotta know that being different is okay and that you can dream it and you can hope it or you can make it happen, and I hope that they make it happen.”
Those words drew applause in the studio. At the time, they came from a young boy learning to navigate a world that often made his differences impossible to ignore. Today, they carry the weight of everything Frech has accomplished since that television appearance.
Purdy drove that point home in another part of her post. “Here’s a little reminder that your circumstances don’t determine your future, your mindset does. This is Ezra talking at 9 years old, and now he’s showing the world what he meant.”
She also encouraged fans to keep voting for Frech on Dancing with the Stars, adding that she had no doubt he could become the first Paralympian to win the competition.
Previously, Frech has spoken openly about how difficult his childhood could be. Born with congenital limb differences, he grew up facing stares, pointing fingers, and whispers whenever he went out in public. “Everywhere you go in public, people are staring and pointing fingers and whispering. I felt like a zoo animal for many of those early years.”
He was born without his left shin bone and left knee and had one finger on his left hand. At three, he underwent surgery to remove his lower left leg and transplant his left big toe onto his hand to create a thumb.
His family and sport helped him navigate those difficult years. Frech played basketball, soccer, football, and whatever else was in season, finding a place where he could focus on being an athlete rather than constantly feeling defined by his disability.
But a television appearance at nine was only one early milestone. Watching track and field at the 2016 Rio Paralympics gave him a clearer vision of what he wanted to become. He has described that experience as an “out-of-body experience” that made something click.
Frech went on to represent Team USA at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, held in 2021, finishing fifth in the high jump and eighth in the long jump. Three years later, he returned from Paris with gold medals in the 100-meter dash and high jump at the 2024 Paralympic Games.
He also became a world champion after breaking the high jump world record twice at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships. His ambitions remain high as he works toward the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics, although the T63 long jump has since been removed from the LA28 program.
Dancing with the Stars gives Ezra Frech a new stage
Track and field is not the only arena where Frech wants people to rethink disability. He is now competing on Dancing with the Stars with Karagach, bringing adaptive ballroom routines to a mainstream television audience.
Frech is the fourth amputee to compete on the show, following Heather Mills, Purdy, and Noah Galloway. He is also the first contestant to compete with a mechanical knee. Adapting to each routine requires careful adjustments, including deciding whether to use his walking or running blade prosthetic.
Despite those challenges, Frech and Karagach have consistently impressed viewers and judges, establishing themselves among the season’s strongest couples. For Frech, the experience also carries a personal significance: Dancing with the Stars was once one of the few mainstream television shows where he saw disability represented.
Now, he wants to help create that same sense of possibility for someone watching at home. As he has explained, children with disabilities should be able to switch on the television and see people like themselves.
Purdy understands that responsibility from experience. When she competed on the show with Derek Hough in 2014, the pair finished as runners-up. She has since reflected on how she initially focused on showing what was possible, while Frech has taken another step by speaking confidently about disability and helping make those conversations more normal.
Frech has also described Purdy’s support as a source of motivation. “I have a lot of love for Amy,” he said. “Getting her love each week is fueling.”
Beyond the ballroom, his work with Angel City Sports remains central to his mission. He co-founded the nonprofit with his father in 2013 to make adaptive sports more accessible to people with disabilities in Southern California.
Whether he is chasing another Paralympic medal or learning a new dance routine, Frech continues to build on the message he delivered at nine. His childhood video is going viral again, but its meaning has not changed: being different does not have to limit what someone can achieve.