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24th July 2024
02:07pm BST
Colin Farrell is set to run the Dublin Marathon alongside his close friend for her 'miracle 40th birthday'.
The Banshees of Inisherin star paid a moving tribute to Emma Fogarty, who is Ireland’s longest-surviving person battling the most severe type of agonising skin condition, epidermolysis bullosa (EB).
The Laois woman’s parents were told she would not live a week beyond birth but she reached her 40th birthday last month and has survived cancer twice in her lifetime.
Farrell will be taking on ‘Emma’s Run to 40’ in October’s Irish Life Dublin Marathon, with Emma joining him for the final stages in a wheelchair.
Farrell is hoping that the run will raise €400,000 for Debra, the national charity helping 300 people living in Ireland with EB.
“Emma Fogarty is not only the strongest person I’ve ever met and a true warrior, I’m lucky enough to call her a friend,” said 48-year-old.
“For years now, I’ve been fortunate enough to bear witness not only to her courage and her vulnerability, but her humour, her stubbornness and her great, great heart too.
“The fact that I’m getting to run the Irish Life Dublin Marathon with my friend to celebrate her 40th birthday is something I’m so excited about. She’s already won the whole day!”
The current life expectancy for EB is 30-35 years, with the disease also being known as 'Butterfly Skin'.
Emma was born with no skin on her left foot and right arm and the disease causes excruciating blisters on her skin at the mildest touch.
She has to change the bandages on her body, to prevent wound infection, every second day, which leave her screaming in pain.
“The doctors said it would be better for me not to make it, because my life would be so hard,” Emma said.
“No one expected me to survive for this long – because people with my type of EB almost never do – but I’ve always been encouraged to be a fighter.
“Reaching 40 shouldn’t be a miracle, but right now, it is.
“I’m asking everyone to donate to Debra, which has been like a family to me, so everyone with EB in Ireland can live the longest, fullest life possible.”
All the funds raised from the marathon run will be used to fuel pioneering research which could transform the future for everyone with EB in Ireland.
Anybody looking to support the initiative can visit the website here for more information.
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