Man once told he may never walk again departs from Brooklyn in his walk across America
The Ireland-born endurance athlete has previously walked across Ireland, rowed seven marathons and completed four ultramarathons.
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A man who was once told he may never walk again departed Saturday in his walk across America — starting in Brooklyn.
Fergus Farrell, 46, began the 75-day journey, walking from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Santa Monica Pier in California. The Ireland-born endurance athlete has previously walked across Ireland, rowed seven marathons and completed four ultramarathons.
But this challenge is different.
In 2018, Farrell collapsed while trying to move a metal bench, which severed 90% of his spinal cord. Doctors told him that if he did not try to move within 72 hours of surgery, he would likely never walk again.
“That hit me hard, because that was the more likely outcome,” Farrell said.
Determined to get back on his feet, Farrell refused to give up. It took 21 days before he could move his toes, but eventually, he walked out of the hospital without a wheelchair.
“I just feel so lucky that I can,” Farrell said.
That experience changed the way he views something as simple as walking.
“I now realize how much of a privilege it is and how for most of my life I took for granted because I could do it,” Farrell said.
Farrell is now putting that perspective into action. He plans to complete the cross-country walk in 75 days while raising money for Spinal Injuries Ireland and the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, the organizations who made getting Ferrell back on his feet possible.
He knows the journey will not be easy.
“It’s going to be very difficult. There’s going to be very dark moments, some great moments as well,” Farrell said.
But for Farrell, the walk is about more than the miles. It is about using something he once feared he had lost to give hope to people who are still fighting to regain it.
When asked what he wants people to take away from his journey, Farrell had a simple message.
“The life journey is difficult but keep going because you know what, it’s worth it,” he added.
