An Irishman who was warned he may never walk again after his spinal cord was seriously damaged has begun a trek across the United States.
At 8.30am on Saturday, Fergus Farrell (47) was cheered on by a large group of family, friends and supporters as he set off from New York City’s Brooklyn Bridge, which he never imagined would be possible after a devastating accident in 2018.
The father-of-three from Athenry, Co Galway, hopes to reach Santa Monica Pier in California by November 6th, covering thousands of miles in a walk expected to amount to more than six million steps.
The initiative, called “Fergus Walks”, aims to raise funds and awareness for both the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and Spinal Injuries Ireland.
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Farrell had been attempting to move a metal bench in the yard of the bus company he ran near his home when the accident occurred. A disc in his back partly severed his spinal cord, leaving him paralysed from the waist down.
“I fell on the ground, roaring in pain. It was like an explosion in my back, and I couldn’t feel my legs,” he said.
Specialists told him there was a zero per cent chance he would walk again unless he began moving within 72 hours.
After 21 days, the former Connacht underage and junior rugby player was able to move one big toe.
“I spent a lot of time just staring at that hospital ceiling, but it was a process, just to improve slightly each day. I moved one toe, then kept going,” he said.
Farrell and his team are encouraging people of all abilities to join him for any part of the journey.
“I’m doing it for people I may never meet, or those I may never know, so that they can take something from this and maybe help them start their own journey,” he said.
The coast-to-coast walk is the latest in a series of physical challenges undertaken by Farrell. He has already completed the Four Peaks Challenge (climbing the highest mountains in each of Ireland’s four provinces), as well as running four ultra-marathons and walking across Ireland.
Of his latest initiative, he said: “I’ll take one step at a time. I can’t be looking too far ahead, or I may never get there.”
“I’ll be thinking of others who were in my situation, and my three beautiful kids, who are my world. I want to show them that no matter what life throws at you, if you work hard enough and apply yourself, you can go places and have a full life.”
Donations to Fergus Walks can be made through the campaign’s website.
