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Aug
Nephrology News & Issues Sept
Renal Business Today |
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Prior Lake native strides toward goal
As Prior Lake native Shad Ireland watched the World Ironman Championships on
television in 1993 while he recovered from a kidney transplant, he made himself a
promise - One day, he would compete in an Ironman competition.
At that time, Ireland was 18. He weighed 75 pounds. His biceps were the size of
silver dollars.
In 2004, Ireland accomplished his dream.
 |
Shad Ireland trains for his last
triathlon of the year, the LifeTime
Fitness Triathlon, in Minneapolis
on July 14. (Photos by Shawn
Hogendorf) |
As he crossed the finish line in Lake Placid, NY, he heard the words he dreamed of
hearing: “Shad Ireland, you are an Ironman.” Shad Ireland trains for his last
triathlon of the year, the LifeTime Fitness Triathlon, in Minneapolis on July 14.
(Photos by Shawn Hogendorf)
That day, Ireland become the first-ever dialysis patient to complete the 2.4-mile
swim, 112-mile bike race and 26.2-mile marathon. He finished in 16 hours 25
minutes and 10 seconds.
Since completing the Lake Placid race, Ireland has completed 12 other triathlons and
Ironman races. He founded the Shad Ireland Foundation, a non-profit organization
that provides grants to kidney-disease patients to improve their physical fitness and
take a positive approach to goals.
On July 14, Ireland will compete in the sprint course Life Time Fitness Triathlon in
Minneapolis and support two other dialysis patients who will run in the race. The
sprint course consists of a 400-meter swim, a 15-mile bike and a 3.1-mile run.
Ireland was diagnosed with kidney failure 25 years ago. He has been on dialysis for
22 years. He has received two kidney transplants that his body rejected.
Ireland is a professional athlete. Training for triathlons is his full-time job. His
foundation is his passion. He travels around the world to speak about the importance
of cardio-vascular health with kidney failure and dialysis patients.
“You need to realize you are more than your diagnosis, and your perception will
begin to change,” Ireland said. “Realize that you have goals and dreams, seek
answers and strive to achieve, and your world will transform right before your eyes.”
At 35 years old, Ireland undergoes home-dialysis treatment every other day for five
hours, made possible by Fresenius Medical Care.
“The fact that I am out racing, considering the fact that I have been on dialysis for
two decades is amazing,” Ireland said. “The medical consensus was that it couldn’t
be done. As I was training for the triathlon, doctors said, ‘No dialysis patient could
ever compete at this level.’”
The life expectancy of a dialysis patient is two to six years. Within the first two years,
dialysis patients have complications that develop into cardio-vascular disease and
arterial calcification. “You literally deteriorate,” Ireland said.
Dialysis patients eagerly await a kidney transplant, he said.
In his fight for his life, Ireland has become an advocate for home dialysis.
Following the completion of his first Ironman triathlon, Ireland had a “Jerry McGuire
moment” at 3 a.m. one day. He rushed to Kinkos and printed out a mission
statement.
“If I can reach out to one person, then my achievements as an athlete will mean
more than the realization of my personal dream,” Ireland said. “It will mean that I
made a difference.”
Change in perception
At 16, doctors told Ireland that he wouldn’t live past 25. Ireland struggled with
dialysis for six years.
“There I was, very sick, looking at a bleak future,” Ireland said. “Transplant was held
up as a cure, yet I was told I was not transplantable. I was 10 years old and plotting
suicide.”
Ireland tried to go to school. He would go from school to dialysis treatment that
made him sick for 12 hours, and then wake up and be back at school at 7 a.m.
During his struggle with dialysis, Ireland developed addictions to booze and drugs
and contemplated suicide several times.
 |
Shad Ireland receives home-dialysis
treatment. Ireland believes that
home dialysis can change lives by
allowing dialysis patients more
freedom. |
“I would try anything to numb myself to the effects of my fragile existence,” he said.
Shad Ireland receives home-dialysis treatment. Ireland believes that home dialysis
can change lives by allowing dialysis patients more freedom.
At 18, Ireland received his first kidney transplant.
The transplant was rejected by his body several times before eventually working at a
65-percent capacity.
“I was discharged from the hospital and didn’t know what to do with myself,” Ireland
said. “I was told I wouldn’t live past 25, and here I had a transplant.”
Ireland stayed in his house for two years, paralyzed with fear, he said. He had side
effects from the transplant that would spike his body temperature to 104 degrees
and then back to normal in a matter of 20 minutes.
Ireland had an “ah-ha moment” while reading Lance Armstrong’s book, “It’s Not
About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life.” He came to the realization that universally,
people have similar emotions and experiences. Those experiences and emotions
define people, not control them, he said.
In 1993, Ireland slipped into a coma. He went from weighing 145 pounds to 75
pounds. Over the course of the next six weeks in the intensive-care unit, Ireland’s
parents prepared for the worse.
Following discharge, Ireland spent 13 weeks trying to recover. It would take him an
hour to get the energy to sit up, walk to the kitchen and get a glass of water.
Old habits would catch up with Ireland. He started running with a crowd that drank
and did drugs.
Ireland had an epiphany on his 25th birthday.
“How could the doctors be wrong? I was supposed to be dead. I had made a real
mess of my life and didn’t know what to do. I had no perspective. The hopes and
dreams that I had – I couldn’t do them,” Ireland said.
Ireland decided to go to college. He took a philosophy class that would teach him the
tools of reflection, realization and perception. These tools would become the basis for
the Shad Ireland Foundation.
Ireland graduated and worked at IBM as a network engineer.
While at IBM, Ireland got a call for a second kidney transplant.
The kidney never worked. Ireland had the kidney removed three months later.
While he was recovering, IBM called and told him he was going to lose his job if he
couldn’t come back to work.
Once again, Ireland deteriorated quickly. He fell behind paying his bills. He was
evicted from his apartment. He lost his car. He was quickly blowing through his
savings.
Thoughts of suicide returned.
“I didn’t see the hope at the end of the tunnel,” Ireland said.
Ireland went back to the concepts he learned in college of asking questions and
seeking answers. He came to the realization that a transplant wasn’t an option.
“By embracing the thing that I truly hated in life, dialysis, the weight of the world
was lifted off my shoulders,” Ireland said.
He began to research dialysis. He asked doctors if he could be on dialysis longer and
more frequently. Within 60 days he felt significant physical improvement. He started
training for the Ironman triathlon.
A year later, Ireland completed his first Ironman. Today, he strides to reach his goal
of competing in the World Ironman Championships in Kona, Hawaii.
Advocacy
In 2004, he founded the Shad Ireland foundation, at
www.shadirelandfoundation.org, which provides grants for kidney-disease patients to
improve their physical fitness and lives.
Ireland wrote a book, “A Promise Made – In Pursuit of the Iron Dream.” Twenty-five
percent of the book proceeds go to his foundation.
On Aug. 1, Ireland will launch a new Web site and will accept applications for the
2008 roster of Team Ireland.
“I love being a home dialysis patient,” Ireland said. “It gives me a chance to do the
things I want to do in life.”
Fresenius Medical Care is a sponsor of Team Ireland, a contributor to the Shad
Ireland Foundation and the makers of his home dialysis unit.
“The partnership with Fresenius is very important to me,” Ireland said. “The
mission statement of their Ultra Care program represents their commitment to the
pursuit of hopes and dreams of successfully living with a chronic illness.”
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