A father of three thought he was just run down — but it turned out he had a deadly, life-changing illness.

Nick Angell said he had been unusually tired when his health suddenly took a dramatic turn about a decade ago, per Metro.co.uk.

“I had cramping and was falling asleep in the chair at 5pm. I would also get out of breath climbing the stairs. When I look back at pictures now, I can see my face was bloated,” Angell, 45, recalled to the outlet.

At the time, the Swindon, U.K., man didn’t think it was anything too serious.

“I thought I had picked up a bug from the kids, or I was just tired. I just put it down to feeling a bit rough,” he explained.

Angell, then in his 30s, continued working at his IT job. But after feeling as though he might pass out at work one day, he called an ambulance and was taken to a hospital.

Emergency room entrance (stock image).getty
Within days, Angell learned he had IgA nephropathy, an autoimmune kidney disease, and that his kidneys were functioning at just 4%.

“I’d gone from feeling just a bit rubbish and unwell to having stage five renal disease,” he told the outlet. “It was like being parachuted into a war zone.”

The diagnosis was especially surprising because Angell had previously been an avid runner, exercising four or five times a week. When running had begun to feel more difficult, he assumed he was just getting older.

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“Never in a million years did I think my kidneys were to blame,” he said.

Faced with the severity of his illness, Angell said he immediately began planning for the worst-case scenario.

“One of the first things I did was go to a funeral director to make plans,” he recalled. “I took my wife, Kate, and also told her where all the paperwork was — the pensions, the bonuses, the death-in-service information.”

Still, Angell said he tried to remain positive around his wife and three daughters.

“As a dad of three girls and a husband, I just put a brave face on. I told my family: ‘It’s okay. We’ll get through this,’ ” he said.

Meanwhile, he was privately researching what his diagnosis could mean for his future.

“It was horrifying, as I learned the only real treatment is a transplant and that it would be life-changing,” he recalled.

Dialysis equipment (stock image).getty
Angell began peritoneal dialysis, a type of treatment he could perform at home. The portable setup allowed him to continue working and even travel for his job, using the dialysis equipment overnight in hotel rooms.

Then, 14 months after he first became ill, Angell received a kidney transplant. He said the procedure changed his life, adding that he felt “like I was 18 years old again.”

However, his health began declining again about two years later, at which point he received devastating news: his body had rejected the transplant and his kidneys were only functioning at 8%.

Angell would need to begin receiving dialysis at a hospital for about 15 hours each week indefinitely.

Angell said one of the most difficult parts was explaining the change to his daughters, Ellie, now 22, Lily, 16, and Ruby, 9.

“Ellie had been used to me being active, going out on runs with her and having energy to do things,” he said. “The version that Ruby sees is someone who, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, is very rundown from doing dialysis.”

Hospital room (stock image).getty
The treatment, he added, leaves him exhausted and sometimes prevents him from attending his daughters’ activities.

“I can’t go to sports days or school plays if they fall on a dialysis day,” he said. “I feel incredibly guilty for the version that Ruby gets — the dad that can’t do so much, compared to those of her friends.”

Despite his health struggles, Angell said he continues to work.

“I need to throw myself into work, otherwise illness will beat you into the bedroom and keep you pinned down,” he said.

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His condition has also transformed everyday routines. Angell said he must closely monitor his diet, limiting foods containing potassium, dairy products, processed foods and salt. He is also restricted to about one liter of fluid a day.

“I am thirsty all the time. It’s been difficult during the heatwaves,” he said.

Physical tasks that once seemed simple can now require significant effort.

“It puts a lot of pressure on my wife,” he said. “I think sometimes she feels like a single parent.”

Angell is now waiting for another kidney transplant, and until then he must continue to adapt his life and routines to his current health constraints.

“I would love to go to Scandinavia and see some orcas,” he said. “The girls want to go to the U.S. at one point. But that would be a longer flight and I would have to pay [over $1,300] a week for dialysis.”