Dave O’Leary is ‘outing himself’ by taking the Ironman test to prove to others that there is life after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
TRIATHLON ENTHUSIAST Dave O’Leary is living proof that multiple sclerosis (MS) is not a death sentence. The 40-year-old laboratory technician at Cork University Maternity Hospital was diagnosed with MS eight years ago.
However, O’Leary, who is virtually symptom-free, does not allow the condition to curtail his athletic activities.On August 1st, he will take part in a gruelling Ironman challenge in Regensburg in Germany in aid of MS Ireland. (Ironman is a US-based company that runs triathlons all over the world.)
It will see him starting his day at 7am with a 3.8km swim, which will take him 90 minutes. He will then do a 180km cycle which will last for seven hours. Finally, O’Leary will do a 42.2km run in four and a half hours.
“By doing this challenge, I’m ‘outing’ myself,” says O’Leary. “I didn’t tell everyone I had MS because I didn’t want to be treated differently. I also didn’t want it to affect my employment prospects. Because I’m not suffering, nobody can see anything different about me.
“As time goes on, I realise I have the opportunity to inspire people who have been recently diagnosed with MS. They might be feeling they’re staring down the barrel of a gun. But it’s not the end of the road. There’s life after MS. I know it’s not the same for everybody, but you’ve got to hope for the best and do as well as you can.”
O’Leary says that his doctor is all in favour of the physical challenge he’s undertaking. “My neurologist said that while the race might bring on symptoms, it’s unlikely to actually bring on an attack.”
O’Leary describes his diagnosis in 2002 as a “living nightmare”. He experienced a lack of sensation in his left leg. “It felt very dull. I knew something was wrong and thought of MS.
“The numbness started to move up my leg and into my other leg. I had tingling sensations as far as my chest. I went to the doctor and he suspected MS. I had a lumbar puncture or spinal tap test.”
For three weeks after the diagnosis, O’Leary was on the flat of his back, totally lacking in energy.
“Then I started to get my energy back and I gradually got the feeling back throughout my body. My only symptom now is some lack of sensation in my left hand.
“But it doesn’t affect my motor skills. I can do everything. If it stays like this, I’ll be really happy. I hardly notice it and I’m not in pain. If I get a bit run down, my left arm can be sore and it’s sensitive to cold. But it’s not as if I’m suffering terribly. I’m very lucky. On the spectrum, my MS is very mild.”
O’Leary gives himself a weekly intra muscular injection of interferon, something he will have to do for the rest of his life. “That can bring on flu-like symptoms for up to 18 hours afterwards. During that time, I take paracetamol and that pretty much deals with the symptoms.”
In 2004, O’Leary completed his first triathlon and has done several since. “I suppose I’m always looking to challenge myself. When I first heard about the Ironman challenge, I thought it sounded incredible. Now that I’m training for it, I’m gradually building up my distances and I can see that it’s doable.”
O’Leary has a coach and trains for 16 hours every week. “It’s almost like a second job. Obviously, I’m tired from it but the more I train, the faster I recover from each training session.”
Without the support of his wife Aoife, O’Leary says he wouldn’t be able to train for the Ironman challenge. “She is very supportive and looks after all my nutrition. I’m a fairly slim Jim, so I have to make sure I don’t lose any weight. It means I’m having to eat like a horse. I’m consuming sports drinks, bananas and energy bars.
“I take salt tablets during training sessions because I lose a lot of sodium while training. I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables. We don’t tend to cook much meat. Instead, Aoife cooks a lot of lentils, chickpeas and aduki beans.”
When O’Leary was diagnosed with MS, he cut animal fats and refined foods from his diet. He has never smoked and drinks only two or three pints at weekends.
Already, this determined sportsman is planning what he’ll do after the Ironman challenge. “I should be concentrating entirely on the race that’s coming up. But unfortunately, the way I’m built means I’m looking ahead.
“I’ve been looking at doing a marathon to the North Pole but it’s very expensive, costing €12,000 just to enter. If I don’t do that, I’ll certainly do the Cork marathon next year and I’m going to continue doing triathlons. I would hope to improve as a shorter distance triathlete.”
O’Leary makes light of the strenuous effort involved in subjecting himself to major physical challenges. “Working in a maternity hospital, I hear mothers saying they’ll never have another child after giving birth for the first time. But, of course, they forget the pain. It’s a bit like that for me.”
For information on Dave O’Leary’s MS fundraiser, go to mycharity.ie/events/ ms_ironman
