Charlie Bird promises to walk Darkness Into Light despite fall

A fall over the weekend led to Charlie Bird being briefly hospitalised but while the former RTÉ broadcaster suffered cuts and bruises to his face, he was able to play down the extent of his injuries on social media by Monday morning.

The journalist, who is battling motor neuron disease, stressed that the fall would not stop him taking part in a Darkness Into Light walk taking place to raise money for the suicide prevention charity Pieta House next weekend.

Mr Bird is an ambassador for the charity.

He also expressed the hope that the injuries would not derail his attempts to meet Bruce Springsteen who will play three concerts in Dublin later this month.

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[ Charlie Bird hails public support for charities as ‘silver lining’ from illness ]

[ Charlie Bird says kindness of strangers has helped him overcome fear of death ]

“Had a bad fall yesterday out walking. Ended up in A & in Michael’s Dún Laoghaire,” he tweeted.

“Thankfully nothing broken. Staff were fantastic. So will be able to do Darkness into Light with my friends Pieta in the Phoenix Park. Still hoping I will get to meet Brucie even with a bloody face!”

In an earlier tweet, Mr Bird had said meeting the Boss was the “one thing” in his bucket list he had yet to tick off.

“I would love to meet Bruce Springsteen when he is here. I want ‘Land of Hope and Dreams’ to be played at my funeral,’ he tweeted. “This is mad, but I go to sleep nearly every night playing this song, along with ‘The Parting Glass’,” he said.

Bird was diagnosed with motor neuron disease in 2021.

Last April he climbed Croagh Patrick to raise money for Pieta House and the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association (IMNDA). Walks and climbs took place across Ireland and resulted in over €3.6 million being raised for the charities.

At an event to mark the anniversary of the charity event last month, Bird said the diagnosis of a terminal illness had been “very traumatic for me and my family” but he pointed to “an incredible silver lining as well. I have got to know the crucial work of many groups of charities”.

“I keep repeating this, as long as I have a breath in my body,” he said. “I am going to keep extending the hand of friendship. I have been blessed by the amount of support I have received from all over the country and abroad, and I want to thank those people by continuing to work hard for everyone.”