Legendary bodybuilder, Flex Wheeler, suffered immensely from his kidney issues. It started way back when Wheeler was just a teenager (14), and the test results confirmed the presence of protein in his urine. However, the medical field didn’t have the treatment guideline for the disease until then. Which unfortunately deteriorated Flex’s health in the future.

Despite the kidney problems, Flex chose his career in bodybuilding and trained hard. However, when he retired in 2003, he was suffering from kidney failure. Wheeler needed dialysis every other day, and it took three odd hours. In an interview in 2018, Wheeler opened up about the frustration he went through before he had his kidney transplant in 2003.

Flex Wheeler’s frustration before having the kidney transplant

Flex Wheeler is one of the greatest bodybuilders in history. Although he never won a Mr. Olympia title, he competed against massive bodybuilding legends. Flex’s downfall began in the late 90s when he was diagnosed with FSGS, and he suddenly had so many things to look after. The disease was a serious one that led to kidney failure in the future.

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In 2003, Flex’s kidney totally failed. He had to be at the hospital for dialysis, and it frustrated him. In an interview in 2018, Flex said, “The kidney disease was getting more aggressive. So I got to the point where they wanted me to start coming in every day for 12 hours and I just told them go F yourself. I’d rather die.” 

“Did I Do This to Myself?”: Ailing Flex Wheeler Cursed Himself for His Helpless Condition Until He Found Out “A Famous Basketball Player” Also Suffered the Same Disease in 2018

Wheeler continued, “You are going to if you don’t, and we are not sure if you are gonna make it even if you do. I am like, I don’t have a life if I come in here and do that, I might, I just rather die, you know. That’s not wise to live. So I wasn’t thinking about my kids or anything at that time, that was just the darkness I was in and, so fortunate, I got a kidney transplant, and I thought that was great.”

The 2003 kidney transplant wasn’t the last surgery Flex had

Flex had an impeccable physique during his bodybuilding career. But the rare kidney disease made him go through several surgeries in his life. Other than that, Flex revealed in an interview in 2016 that he had undergone over 40 surgeries in his life. It included back and shoulder surgeries as well. 

He hinted in that same interview that even after the kidney transplant, he has been showing some signs of kidney failure again. Eventually, in 2019, his kidney’s failure to filter blood properly led to several clots in his leg’s artery. As a result, Flex had to amputate his right leg to live.

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Regular rounds to a hospital are indeed a frustrating task. Flex had to go under similar circumstances for his dialysis when his kidneys failed. It hyped the frustration to such a point. Even death looked better to the legendary bodybuilder than living like that. Fortunately, that didn’t happen, and Wheeler received a healthy kidney from a donor.