Colin Farrell Finishes Marathon While Pushing Friend in Wheelchair

The actor ran with his friend, who has a rare skin condition, to celebrate her 40th birthday.


By Heather Mayer Irvine |

Award-winning actor and runner Colin Farrell finished the Dublin Marathon in 4:06:45 while pushing his friend in a wheelchair for the last 4 kilometres, according to The Irish Times.

Farrell, 48, and Emma Fogarty, 40, have raised more than R12 million for the charity Debra Ireland, which supports those like Fogarty living with a rare skin condition called epidermolysis bullosa. In a video on X from Saturday’s race, he asks her, “Shall we go again?”

Farrell described Fogarty’s condition as more painful than running a marathon, explaining her body is “80 percent open wound,” while speaking with Seth Meyers last month. (Meyers is due to complete another marathon, by the way.)

Farrell, who ran the Brisbane Marathon in 2022 while working with director Ron Howard, told Meyers “the first mile is magic,” and that saying he’s running a marathon is generous — it could be a walk. But the Banshees of Inisherin actor slowed down just in those final kilometres of the race to carefully push Fogarty.

“I have known Emma for many years and she epitomises bravery, she is what courage and pure determination are all about,” Farrell said in a statement after the race, according to the Irish Times.

Epidermolysis bullosa, also known as butterfly skin, is an excruciating blistering condition of the skin, for which there is no cure. The life expectancy for severe cases is from early infancy to about 35 years old. Fogarty just turned 40, and this marathon was a celebration of that milestone.

Farrell is heavily involved with charity. Earlier this year, he founded the Colin Farrell Foundation in honour of his son, who has Angelman Syndrome, a neuro-genetic disorder

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