Nick Mangold’s heartbreaking final interview before Jets great’s death…
Nick Mangold handed away Saturday at 41, less than two weeks after the former Jets middle went public with the fact he wanted a kidney transplant.
That same day, Oct. 14, Mangold spoke with The Post’s Steve Serby, in what’s believed to be his final interview.
“I assumed I’d be like 60 or so before it came up,” Mangold said that day. “But it’s reared its ugly head now, sooner than I thought it would.”
Former Jets middle Nick Mangold spoke to The Post’s Steve Serby less than two weeks before his death. William Farrington
Mangold realized he had chronic kidney disease in 2006, however only let those closest to him conscious of his condition until this month.
“I don’t think anybody knew about it other than the doctors and my family,’’ Mangold said. “I didn’t want any cloud hanging over anything that I did.”
But that modified when his health worsened just lately, which led Mangold to should get dialysis 3 times per week.
“Over the summer I had lost about 35 pounds over two months, and my red blood cell count dropped to about half of what is supposed to be normal,” Mangold told Serby. “I was very fatigued and having dizzy spells and nausea and everything and so I went to the doctor.”
That’s when he realized he wanted a transplant for a new kidney, which he acknowledged was horrifying.
“Oh, very much so,’’ Mangold said. “Getting told to go to the hospital immediately was not a great phone call to get. I don’t particularly like surgery, so that’s always scary. You put the trust in the doctors’ hands.”
Nick Mangold together with his spouse, Jenny, and their 4 kids. Nick Mangold
Despite the dire state of affairs he was in, Mangold said his life wasn’t in danger.
“It’s more just to get it done, rather than [a] life-or-death situation,’’ Mangold said. “Apparently you can be on dialysis for many years. It’s quality of life that we’re looking at.”
And he called himself “fortunate” that he knew what was ahead of him.
“In a weird way I’m actually kinda fortunate that I have a path to recovery,” Mangold said. “There’s a lot of people that go through illness and different things that there isn’t a direct path to how you get better. I have a direct path, I just need to go on that path.”
Nick Mangold (74) hugs Jets teammate Eric Decker (87) during a game in 2015. New York Post
He wished to go public, as effectively, to unfold the message of kidney disease consciousness.
“It’s something that I feel now I think a little bit more empowered to talk about,” Mangold said. “That it’s really affecting me, for people that it’s also affecting. Because there’s plenty of people out there that deal with chronic kidney disease in everyday life. I played 11 years with chronic kidney disease, and now, if I have the opportunity to share that message, that I was able to do things that I wanted to do while dealing with it, that they can do things as well.”
He leaves behind his spouse, Jenny, and 4 kids, Matthew, 14; Eloise, 11; Thomas, 9; and Charlotte, 7.
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