Kenneth “Flex” Wheeler is a retired American professional bodybuilder. Widely known as Flex Wheeler, he won the prestigious Arnold Classic title four times. Although Wheeler never won any Mr. Olympia title, he was considered a legend. Even the famous Arnold Schwarzenegger had once called Wheeler “the greatest bodybuilder” like him and Coleman.

However, Wheeler’s bodybuilding career was cut short after he was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease. Once, the bodybuilder revealed how the disease affected him off-the-stage and how he had lost everything.

Flex Wheeler recalled the tough time and how it affected his career

In 1999, Wheeler was diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a rare and critical kidney disease. In 2018, during an interview with London Real, Wheeler disclosed how the disease affected him financially and made him lose not just bodybuilding but everything else.

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“Well, I finally had a disease, and you know, that was really tough because all my contracts left, they ran like the Black Plague,” stated a sad Wheeler. “The Sultan of Symmetry” also claimed that an athlete’s image and his life off-the-field are always connected.

Although many might believe athletes have it easy, Wheeler disagreed with this opinion. He said, “You imagine your pain and athletes to look a certain way, and there was a dark side to what they have to do. And now you have kidney failure, please, try to convince me it’s not a correlation to what you’re doing. You’re lying. Of course, it is.“

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The disease left Wheeler and his family helpless as he lost everything. He confessed, “They all ran like its plague. So, I just lost everything, my mansion, my cars.” Wheeler continued to compete in bodybuilding events until 2002. Later, his body couldn’t take it anymore, and he had to call it quits.

Wheeler’s disease and what is he doing now?

Due to focal segmental glomerulosclerosis disease, Wheeler underwent a kidney transplant in 2004. Although the transplant was successful, his health condition did not improve much.

Recently, Wheeler’s condition worsened, and he had to undergo a right leg amputation. But all this has not let “The Sultan of Symmetry” down. He even fought back depression and his health issues to come back as a stronger individual.

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Even today, Wheeler continues training in the gym while helping other young bodybuilders to build their careers. He also endorses various bodybuilding products and equipment on his social media handles and along with some bodybuilding tips.