BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) -- Sitting on his mother's couch 16 years ago, weighing 75 pounds with biceps "the size of quarters" and being told by doctors he didn't have long to live, Shad Ireland saw an Ironman triathlon.

He made a promise to himself then and there: Someday, he would compete in one.

Since then, Ireland has lost count of the Ironman competitions he's completed.

But last week, the 37-year-old dialysis patient and professional athlete was midway through a 4,000-mile cross-country bicycle tour to educate others about kidney disease and inspire those suffering from it.

Ireland explained the motivation behind his trek and indeed, for his life-changing quest to overcome a death sentence and fulfill his dreams this way.

"What inspires you?" is the question Ireland asks not just of kidney patients, but everyone he meets.

Inspiration, determination and perseverance are the keys to his success since his treatment began at the age of 10, he said.

At first, he was scared and angry with the medical field, watching other children in treatment with him die. He is the last survivor of the nine children he started dialysis with.

"At the end of the day, I'm this scared 10-year-old afraid to die," he said.

When he started telling people he planned to compete in triathlons, not many believed he could.

He gave his first Ironman medal to his late mother, who then was battling lung cancer, because she always supported and encouraged him.

So far, Ireland has finished 18 triathlons, some of which were Ironman events. Ironman triathlons consist of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26-mile run.

This jaunt began for Ireland, a Minnesota resident, in Los Angeles.

The best part for him has been all the kidney patients he's met. He wants them to know that kidney disease is not the end of their lives and their dreams.

"Seeing the spark in their eyes -- it's a beautiful thing to inspire people," he added. "I've got the greatest job in the world."

Besides inspiration, kidney patients need good information and support, Ireland stressed. He suggested two Web sites, www.ultracare-dialysis.com, a Fresenius Medical Care site, and his site, www.whatinspires

you.us/ as good resources for both of those things.

"You can't get them all worked up and inspired and not give them any resources," he added.

Dawn Lowe, a nurse and clinical manager of the local clinic, said patients were excited at the chance to meet Ireland.

"Shad is very inspiring for the dialysis community because he has gone above and beyond any dialysis patient I have seen," she said.

Lowe said all patients are encouraged to exercise and stay active, and many can lead normal lives -- working, going to school and being involved in family and community activities.

But Ireland opens a vista of opportunities beyond that.

"He's proof that possibilities are endless -- I mean, he is the picture of that," Lowe said.

Traveling with Shad Ireland by car as a one-man support team is his cousin, Ben Ireland.

A 30-year-old fellow Minnesotan, Ben Ireland has been honing his photography skills for a book Shad Ireland is planning -- his second.

Shad Ireland said he couldn't have made the trip without his cousin's support.

Ben Ireland also understands what it means to overcome adversity. A while back, he almost lost his leg in a motorcycle accident. He's challenged his cousin to a race to the finish line in Washington D.C.

Shad Ireland has invited anyone interested to join him for the last few miles of the trek. He hopes to attract 1,000 riders.

But the important thing is to achieve the goal.

"I want to stand on the steps of the Capitol and say, 'Yeah, I beat this,'" he said.

In conversation, Ireland sounds like a motivational speaker -- perhaps because he's done it.

And coming from almost anyone else, the things he says might be dismissed as unrealistic platitudes:

"It's not the destination, it's the pursuit."

"If you see something that's broken, you try to fix it; if you see people who need help, you help them."

"Anything in life worth doing is worth struggling for. If this were easy, I wouldn't respect it."

But in the face of a living, breathing, bicycling miracle, it's easier to believe.