I'm a runner who has ran Manchester Marathon- what I thought was a broken toe turned out to be kidney disease
A fit 27-year-old from Bolton who came home from work thinking he had broken his toe was left shocked after finding out he would need a new kidney.
Super-fit marathon runner Niven Hopkins was diagnosed with stage four chronic kidney disease after his foot ‘ballooned’ to four times the size in July last year. Doctors told the electrical and air conditioning engineer that his kidneys were in such a bad condition they could not even do a biopsy to test it.
Niven said: “I couldn’t walk, I struggled to get a doctor’s appointment for the first couple of days so I couldn’t take any medication or anything, I just kind of had to battle it.
“I managed to see the doctor and he said ‘we weren’t expecting someone like you to walk in, so young and healthy, we were expecting someone a bit older or overweight’.”
Niven’s doctor diagnosed him with gout, but around three days later, he was woken up and told to rush to the Royal Bolton Hospital as tests showed his kidneys were failing.
He said: “I got a call at like five in the morning saying ‘you need to go to the hospital right now, your blood tests are indicating your kidneys are failing.’
“That was a big shock, obviously. My girlfriend was in tears. I was in there for about six days, where I was on a drip and undergoing loads of examinations.”
It was there that Niven was diagnosed with stage four chronic kidney disease, with tests showing his kidneys only function at around 15 per cent of the level of fully functioning kidneys.
Niven, who is still waiting to receive a new kidney, said he is not sure what has caused his condition, with doctors suggesting he may have eaten a diet which was too high in protein.
He added: “I’m still not 100% sure that’s correct, personally I don’t think that.
“I wasn’t overly eating protein, it was regular. I’d have it with every meal, I’d have like eggs or the usual healthy stuff like chicken and at tea it’d be meat. I wasn’t having protein shakes, I don’t have protein shakes, I’d rather eat whole, natural foods.
“The shock of the gout was one thing, and then I had a kidney biopsy and they said ‘yeah, your kidneys are in that bad of a condition we can’t get a sample to test it’.”
Dieticians have now told Niven to cut out dark-coloured fizzy drinks as well as red meat, and to cut down on salt.
Now, he’s waiting for a pre-transplant assessment in February so he can be matched to a donor in the hopes he can avoid having to start hours-long dialysis sessions each week.
The keen runner, who has already completed the Manchester Marathon and Barcelona Marathon, had already signed up to complete the 2025 London Marathon in aid of charity Kidney Care UK before his diagnosis.
Niven decided to raise money for the charity after seeing his mum, Susan, 60, go through her own struggles with her kidney.
He added: “My mum’s had two kidney transplants. I’ve seen her go through it all and seeing my mum go through that was a horrible experience, that was really eye-opening. To hear I’m going to have to go through it all, being in shock wasn’t the word.”
The 27-year-old has already raised more than £3,000 for the charity. Despite continuing to work and training for the marathon, Niven still has to deal with the symptoms of his condition which leave him tired and in pain.
He added: “I do get fatigued quite easily, now I’m working all day then I’m going to the gym and having a run so that does also have an effect, so it’s hard to pinpoint that directly on the kidneys.
“I have kidney pains, so my lower back where the kidneys are located, some days it’s really painful, almost like a dead leg but in your kidneys, a really dull, long pain, but I just kind of get on with it.”
Those who wish to donate to Niven’s fundraiser can do so online