In September 2002, Shea was wakeboarding on Castaic Lake when the ski rope wrapped around his ankle and severed his leg below his knee.

[4] Through his training, Shea competed in Snowboard cross at Winter X Games where he won a silver medal and, later, three World Championships.

[5] In 2014, Shea became a member of the "Three Amigos" (along with Keith Gabel and Evan Strong) competing in snowboarding internationally for Team USA.

[5] Later that year, the three also competed at the IPC Alpine Skiing Europa Cup in their first-ever banked slalom Para-snowboarding event.

[12] Shea officially retired from competitive snowboarding at the age of 37 in September 2020 due to health problems and chronic injuries.