Athlete completes remarkable featShad Ireland completes grueling tri-athalon
Updated: Sunday, 18 Apr 2010, 7:08 PM EDT
Published : Sunday, 18 Apr 2010, 7:08 PM EDT
* Brian Tabor
* Posted by: Kate McGowan
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A tri-athlete is sharing his story about living life despite regular dialysis.
37-year-old Shad Ireland was a guest of the National Kidney Foundation serving Western New York.
When he was a young man, Ireland saw a tri-athalon on TV and was inspired to train.
He was the first dialysis patient to complete the grueling competition.
"Somebody sitting on the couch, hopefully one of your viewers, is looking at this and they say, 'you know, geez if he can be on kidney dialysis for 27 years and do an ironman, which is a 2.4 mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and then a 26-mile run, maybe they can get up and do some exercise', and that's really one of the big components of preventing the cause of kidney disease," Shad exclaimed.
In Western New York, 1,600 people are on dialysis, and 500 are waiting for transplants.
http://www.wivb.com/dpp/health/Athlete-completes-remarkable-feat