Minnesota dialysis patient shares triumphs with others
Minnesota dialysis patient shares triumphs with others in Oklahoma City

By Jessica Jackson

Published: August 8, 2008

Doctors in 1993 told Shad Ireland's family he had 12 hours to live.

Eleven years later, Ireland finished his first Ironman triathlon, proving doctors wrong and inspiring hundreds.

Thursday, he brought his encouraging story to Oklahoma City.

"It's interesting, we have the ability to adapt and push ourselves beyond our limits,” Ireland told Patrick Herrin, 29, a Harrah resident who was undergoing a dialysis treatment at Fresenius Medical Care clinic at St. Anthony Hospital.

Later, Ireland said, "You have to do what you're passionate about, and the rest will fall into place.”

Ireland has been a dialysis patient since he suffered kidney failure at age 10. But 21 years later he ran one of the toughest Ironman triathlons, Ford Ironman Lake Placid Triathlon. He finished in 16 hours, 25 minutes and 10 seconds, becoming the first dialysis patient to finish an Ironman, he said.

Herrin, who has been undergoing dialysis for five years, said it was good to talk to Ireland.

"Sometimes it's hard, (and) I feel tired,” Herrin said. "He said you can get back to feeling normal, and that's something I really want.”

Tiredness is one of the big side effects of dialysis, a replacement for kidney function, said Cheryl Holton, Fresenius Medical Care area manager.

Growing up without answers to why he had a disorder and how it could be fixed, Ireland attempted suicide four times. He was angry. He abused drugs and alcohol to relieve his pain.

A transplant failed. He slipped into a coma, his lungs filling with fluid. Doctors said he wouldn't make it.

Defying more odds, Ireland emerged from the coma, still expected to live only another six months.

"It was the lowest point in my life, and I watched an Ironman (triathlon),” he said. "I didn't know it would change my life.”

He made a promise to himself he would run the triathlon one day. A promise he soon forgot. Years later, weighing 90 pounds, Ireland quit smoking and drinking and began training for an Ironman.

"I realized I needed to embrace the only thing in my life I hated, and that was dialysis,” he said.

Ireland, who undergoes dialysis 18 to 20 hours a week, now encourages others to follow their dreams. He said today he is healthy, 26 years after being diagnosed with a condition that often kills within two to eight years.

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