For Nick Ruane, the sport of triathlon was just another thing he’d been told was impossible.
But as it turns out ‘impossible’ is a word the 36-year-old has scratched from his vocabulary, overcoming extreme adversity to cross the finish line at this year’s Ironman New Zealand in Taupo.
As a young child, Nick’s life changed forever when a freak accident saw a wooden stick pierce the roof of his mouth and severe a major artery.
The accident saw him spend the next three weeks under constant watch in hospital where doctors found the trauma had caused him to have a stroke which had paralysed his left arm and leg.
While the wounds healed and he regained some mobility in his leg, there was no denying that life would never be the same.
"Having a serious accident like that when you’re as young as I was changes your life and sends you on a different path,” Nick says.
"It changed the way I looked at the world too. I certainly carried around a lot of negativity for a long time and that took a long time to process and I still deal with it on a daily basis.”
Throughout a tough adolescence Nick found comfort in food and ballooned out to a scary size. He also became addicted to cigarettes and was smoking 30 a day.
Then one day as a university student Nick’s life took another dramatic turn.
Coming down with a bad cold, he spent three days in bed and came out the other side a non-smoker. He realised that things needed to change and instead of turning to food, put on some shoes and went for a run.
"I looked at myself and said ‘this is crazy I need to make some changes here’. The food was a way of masking the fact that I didn’t like myself.
"That’s quite a complex issue and is something I still deal with now but that’s why I aimed to take on ironman, to express who I am and prove that I can do anything.”
After taking on a swim coach and adapting his own unique one-armed style of swimming, Nick targeted his first Ironman NZ in 2010. Heartbreakingly, he missed the 2 hour, 20 minute cut off time on the 3.8km swim leg.
While bitterly disappointed, he promised to come back stronger in 2011 and delivered on that in a major way. This year he completed the swim in 2hrs and 11mins and was cheered onto the bike leg by stunned and inspired onlookers.
"For me the ironman started when I got out of the water - that was the big milestone for me.
"I’d done a time trial with my swim coach Ali Dennis two weeks before ironman and I’d swum 2:08 in the pool so I knew I could make it.”
Despite having to ride the bike with just one arm and limited output from his left leg, Nick made up time on the road with a 6:57:20 cycle leg.
Then onto the 42km run and Nick knew he had it in the bag, eventually crossing the line in 14:29:00 – two and a half hours inside the midnight cut off time.
"Going through that finish line at the time I did was pretty surreal. It was dark and there were lights and cameras everywhere so it was crazy. It’s the moment I’ve been thinking about for 12 months so to have it come to pass was an amazing experience.
"All my life I’ve had people say ‘you can’t do this’, ‘you shouldn’t do that it’s not possible’. I ran through all those times in my life during the race and kept telling myself you can do whatever you want, just decide you want it.
"I know now what’s important to me. What’s important to me is knowing what’s right and following my dreams.”
Still on a high from his ironman achievements, Nick is now eyeing up his next challenge and will hear shortly whether he has been selected to race the prestigious Kona Ironman in Hawaii. He’s also weighing up the Long Course World Championships in Las Vegas later this year.
But in the long term he has a much bigger ambition; Nick wants to represent New Zealand in triathlon at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio.
It will mean a complete change in his approach to the sport as he trades in long distance training for sprint distance.
The Paralympic triathlon will consist of a 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run.
"That’s something I’m looking at long term so when I finish this year I’ll change the way I train.
"We’re going to look at switching to short course triathlon and that will completely change things. From ultra long distance back to sprint will be a bit of a headache but that’s the challenge for me.”
So while Nick continues to prove his doubters wrong through triathlon, he also serves as a huge inspiration to so many.
"It’s good to inspire other people to make changes and have a go in their lives. That’s part of what I’m about.
"Ironman racing is something I’m getting a lot of joy and confidence from and is definitely making major changes in the way I look at things and myself right now.
"It’s a great thing. It’s a really great thing.”
