Dedication, perseverance and endurance are three words Shad Ireland lives his life by every day. Shad is not your ordinary dialysis patient. He knows what it feels like to fall all the way to the bottom and then ultimately climb back up to the top. Shad’s life is a true example of one man’s determination for success.

In 1983, at the age of 10, Shad was diagnosed with Membranoproliferative Glomerulonephritis (MPGN) Type 1 kidney disease, which is an inflammation of the kidneys. Once he was diagnosed, Shad knew his life was about to change. That same year Shad began dialysis treatment. Having to experience dialysis, as a child, many emotions went through Shad’s mind; anger, sadness and uncertainty. “I wanted to know why I had to go through this. My goals were thrown away and the only thing I was certain about was the fact that if I did not seek treatment, I was going to die,” said Shad.  

When he began dialysis, he dialyzed three times a week for six hours a day at the University of Minnesota. Shad’s daily schedule consisted of waking up at 6:30 a.m. and preparing himself for his day ahead. He would attend school from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and then after school he would dialyze until 10 p.m. After dialyzing for six hours, he would return home and go to bed around 11 p.m. This strict regiment of activity affected him greatly. “Each day I would go to the dialysis clinic and look at the people around me. Everyone looked so depressed and sick. I was the only kid there. What really affected me was when people did not come back because they had died,” said Shad.

He did not just want to sit there dialyzing in an uncertain state of mind and let his life go by. From the time he was 10, Shad studied his disease. He wanted to know what was happening to him. Shad said, “At times, I think people in the kidney field did not like what I was doing by asking all these questions, but I did not care. I wanted to take control of my disease and manage it.”  

Time went by and Shad felt like he had remained in a constant state always wondering when his time to die would come. At age 16, Shad was told he would not live past 25. Once again, news such as this only reinforced his already grim feelings toward life. However, even with negative news, Shad refused to let the disease beat him.

In 1990, Shad received his first kidney transplant; however, because Shad’s body did not react well to the immunosuppressive drugs, the transplant only lasted for three years. In 1993, Shad’s weight drastically decreased from 150 pounds to somewhere between 70 to 90 pounds. Shad’s body began to shut down and he fell into a coma. After awakening from the coma, Shad spent one year recovering from the failed transplant. Seven years later, Shad received another transplant and this one would also ultimately fail. Today, he does not have any kidneys and relies only on dialysis to cleanse his body of toxins.

Even with an enormous amount of adversity stacked against him, Shad decided to begin college at age 16. Like any other college student, he enjoyed spending time with friends and dancing. He danced so much that he even decided to take part in dance competitions. Eventually, his love for dancing evolved into a desire to become an actor.

With a new passion for acting and dancing Shad’s life began to take a turn for the better. He had new goals now and nothing was going to stop him from achieving them. He became so preoccupied that one morning he woke up and realized, it was his 25th birthday. “By now, I was supposed to be dead,” recalls Shad. This realization also led him to develop another goal in his life that even for a healthy individual, with working kidneys, is almost unattainable. Shad Ireland wanted to compete in an Ironman® competition.

Today, Shad lives in Minneapolis, Minn., and has been on dialysis for 21 years. At the age of 31, he is determined to take on the biggest obstacle of his life. Shad is training for the Ironman® USA Triathlon in Lake Placid, N.Y., on July 25, 2004. He will be the first dialysis patient to ever compete in a triathlon. Shad’s personal goal is to finish at Lake Placid with a qualifying time that will enable him to compete in the Ironman® World Championship in Kona, Hawaii on Oct. 16, 2004. In Shad’s age group, 30 to 34, there are 14 qualifying spots for Kona. At the 2003 Ironman®, more than 315 triathletes competed for one of the top 14 spots.

In order to compete in this event, Shad must follow intensive training schedules. Currently, his training involves swimming, running, weight training and bike riding. The Ironman® USA Triathlon consists of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run. To qualify for Kona, Shad has to finish between a time of 9:43 and 10:23 in the Ironman® USA Triathlon. To be able to maintain such extreme training schedules and compete, he finds inspiration and support from his trainers and friends. Shad states, “I know there are some people out there who say it cannot be done. However, I am not training to finish. I am training to win.”

Some people may question Shad’s ability to compete in this triathlon, but he is determined to prove them wrong and also inspire other individuals that suffer from diseases to achieve their goals and not let anything hold them back. “I have been told time and time again that I am not the typical dialysis patient, but whether someone suffers from a disease like mine or something else, I want them to know that they should not feel limited in what life has to offer,” said Shad.

Along with training for the Ironman® competition, Shad is also studying to earn his associate’s degree in the paralegal program at Inver Hills Community College in Inver Grove Heights, Minn., and his bachelor’s degree in legal theory at Metropolitan State University, in Minneapolis. In the fall of 2004, Shad plans on attending William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minn., and one day becoming a lawyer. He knows that his goals are going to be difficult to achieve, but that only makes him want to try harder. “I believe in turning obstacles into achievements,” said Shad.

This article originally appeared in the July 2004 issue of aakpRENALIFE, Vol. 20, No. 1.

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