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PHOENIX — The hurdles set on the far right lanes of the Paradise Valley Community College track remained stationary as world record holder Aries Merritt swiftly jumped over each one by one.Watching him jump over the barriers with perfect precision, you could never tell that Merritt was just four weeks into training for this season, let alone a man who since September underwent a kidney transplant and a hematoma removal surgery.“It’s coming back a lot faster than I expected,” Merritt said after Friday’s practice with the Altis training group. “My rhythm is coming back and my power and weight is getting up faster than I expected so I’m really happy about what this year has in store for me.”Merritt’s current health and ability to train for defense of his Olympic title is a welcomed state, considering that just this summer that a failing kidney put his career and life in peril.In 2013, Merritt was diagnosed with Collapsing Docal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and dealing with increased kidney failure.By last summer, his kidney function plummeted to 20 percent. Nevertheless, he competed at the World Championships in Beijing, winning a bronze medal in the 110m hurdles in a season-best 13.04. That performance is even more remarkable when you consider he was eight pounds underweight, and unable to process protein or potassium at a healthy rate, recover properly, or train at the same intensity as he did when he won Olympic gold in London in 2012.“I had a job to,” Merritt said. “I wanted to medal. I wanted to be world champion so I wanted to go there, but right before Worlds was when I got the news - ‘You need to not run, you need to have surgery and we need to start prepping.’ I’m like, ‘No! We can’t start prepping now. I really need to finish this season out!’”Three days after his podium finish, on Sept. 1, 2015, Merritt underwent successful transplant surgery in Arizona, receiving a new kidney from his sister LaToya Hubbard. The doctors were able to place the new kidney near the pelvic area so that he would have a functioning kidney outside of his two diseased kidneys.One week following the surgery, Merritt went in for a check-up feeling fine and recovering well. According to The Associated Press , the doctors told him that his wounds more resembled a patient who was six months removed from a transplant, not one week, and that he could be running again in six weeks.That would not be the case.A hematoma, a collection of blood outside of a blood vessel, formed around the kidney transplant area crushing the new organ and moving it out of place. Doctors were forced to operate once again to drain the hematoma and push the kidney further into his pelvic area. The complication prolonged Merritt’s recovery an additional six weeks to 15 weeks total.Despite the ordeal, Merritt is all smiles as he describes the experience and even jokes about what he went through.“It was just gross,” Merritt laughed while recalling his post-surgery condition that included a catheter to collect fluid from his body.Merritt returned to full training on December 18th with his coach, Andreas Behm at Altis, and has since made excellent progress. After just three weeks, he is closing in on a normal recovery rate.Initially, Merritt could complete 6x150 meter repeats with 8-10 minutes of rest in between each. Now he can complete the same workout with just two minutes of rest at the same tempo level.He is also functioning at a hemoglobin level of 15, which means that the amount of protein molecules in his red blood cells that carry oxygen from his lungs to his body’s tissues is at a normal rate. Prior to the transplant, Merritt’s hemoglobin level was 11. A low hemoglobin count is generally defined as anything less than 13.5.The turnaround is nothing short of amazing, and his positive results have Merritt even targeting an indoor track season opener in mid-February.The ultimate prize, however, remains winning a second straight gold medal at this summer’s Olympics in Rio.“I can’t wait to do amazing things again,” Merritt said with a smile.