Jackson Free Press

As a young boy, Shad Ireland wanted to be a professional athlete when he grew up. But at the age of 10, he was diagnosed with Membranoproliferative nephritis, which causes the immune system to damage the kidneys, and his dream was dashed. Today Ireland is a dialysis patient of 25 years and works with Fresenius Medical Care as a motivational speaker. He travels across the nation with a success story: He is the first and only dialysis patient to compete and finish an Ironman triathlon. Ireland and his team, Team Ireland, compete in Ironman competitions around the U.S. and have finished 14 races to date. In August, Ireland visited seven Fresenius clinics in Mississippi, offering his personal testimony to dialysis patients.

When you decided to start training for marathons, what did your doctors say?
Well, the medical consensus was it could not be done—ever. No dialysis patient could finish an Ironman. You know, the Ironman consists of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and then a 26.2-mile run. Given the type of symptoms and things that come along with this diagnosis, it was rather impossible. I mean, I had been on dialysis for 20 years, had no athletic background, literally weighed 100 pounds. My biceps were the size of a half dollar. And here I was saying that I was going to do an Ironman. In less than 12 months, I gained 42 pounds of muscle, and I got down to 6 percent body fat, and took on one of the most grueling events in the world of sports.

What made you want to do it?
In 1993, I lost my first (kidney) transplant, and I literally went from 145 pounds down to 75 pounds. I spent 13 months on my mother's couch, and it was there that I came across the Ironman on TV. My first thought was, 'Why would you want to do this?' and then the second thought was that I was so inspired by these people. I have a quote that I share with patients and when I'm doing motivational speaking, and it pretty much says that I believe that an individual inspired can accomplish anything, and that we have the ability to inspire others by doing what inspires us. I saw those people doing something that they were passionate about, and I made a promise to myself that that would be me one day, running with the best in the world. A decade later ... I began to train for Ironman.

How did you prepare?
I increased my dialysis time—the time I spent connected to a machine. That was important. And I worked closely with my physician. The reason why he supported me, I think, is because he did marathons … And I began to train myself, researched on the Internet, and after about six months of training myself, I connected with my coach. He and I started to work together and really refine my training to make sure that I was well-prepared for (the Ironman at) Lake Placid.

Are there any memorable moments of touring the country and sharing your story?
What inspires me is the patients that I meet and the clinics that I've visited. So many times, I see patients who are un-motivated and angry and really lacking hope. … We've got 5,000 patients in Mississippi on kidney dialysis. When I shared with them my story, just the look in their eyes like 'Wow, if Shad can do this, then maybe I can get up and walk around the block.' My partnership with Fresenius has allowed me to provide inspiration and motivation for the patients in the clinics.

How did you and your fiancée meet?
We met after a race. Her name is Roxanne, and she e-mailed me and said that I looked hot. I was literally having a horrible race that day and had a huge leg cramp and was waddling, so I thought it was my friends joking around with me. We ended up meeting and became fast friends. We've been inseparable ever since.

Have you heard any success stories from dialysis patients to whom you have spoken?
Two years ago, I spoke for The National Kidney Foundation of Mississippi and The Network. … There was a patient who approached me after my presentation … his name was Travis, and he said he was really inspired. I wasn't really comfortable being a speaker back then and didn't know if this is what I should be doing. I was scheduled to speak in Mississippi, which I did, then Mobile, Birmingham and Tennessee, and Travis came to every one of my speaking engagements. He approached me in Tennessee … and says: 'Shad, I need to tell you what you are doing is making a difference. You have inspired me. After your engagement in Jackson, I went out and did a 5K,' and I was blown away. I asked him, 'how did you do?' and he said, 'I finished.'

What is the message that you want to convey to dialysis patients?
That they can pursue their goals and dreams, that they can live a successful and healthy life on dialysis. I am able to be successful because I am able to separate the two. I have my illness, and then I have my life. When I need to deal with dialysis and the things that go with that, I do. And then I put it back into a box. … I think it's two things: No.1: Patients have to believe that their situation can improve. No. 2: they have to want their situation to improve. As soon as they embrace those two concepts, they can achieve anything.

Previous Comments

ID

68136

Comment

What an inspirational story. Makes me feel guilty for slacking up on my exercise regimen.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-10-10T21:08:52-06:00

ID

68137

Comment

Maggie, the courage of Ireland is more than I can fathom. Even for a very healthy person to attempt an ironman event is remarkable. For him to do so is beyond my comprehension. Thanks for bringing this piece to JFP. You did a great job on it.

Author

J.T.

Date

2007-10-12T07:45:39-06:00

ID

68138

Comment

Just talking to Shad was such a humbling experience. He does dialysis four and a half hours every day in order to build his strength for these races, and he plans to do some international Ironman competitions in the future. If you're interested in joining his team, you should certainly check out his Web site: ironshad.com

Author

maggie

Date

2007-10-12T12:27:45-06:00