Hollywood actor to run marathon with 'miracle' Laois woman after her 40th birthday

Colin Farrell has paid emotional tribute to a close friend who miraculously celebrated her 40th birthday and revealed he will run a marathon with her.

Emma Fogarty, a woman from Laois, is the oldest Irish person to battle the most serious type of painful skin condition, epidermolysis bullosa (EB).

Her parents were told she would not survive a week after she was born, but she celebrated her 40th birthday last month and has survived two cancers in the meantime.

Now the actor, who will star in A Big Bold Beautiful Journey next year alongside Barbie star Margot Robbie and is also filming Netflix thriller The Ballad of a Small Player, is tackling Emma's Run to 40 by taking part in October's Irish Life Dublin Marathon.

Emma, ​​a woman from Abbeyleix, who celebrated her birthday with a reception at the Killashee Hotel and Spa in Kildare on Tuesday, plans to join him in a wheelchair for the final stages of the 42km race.

Farrell hopes their run, with the help of the public, will raise $400,000 for Debra, the national charity which helps 300 people living with EB in Ireland.

Emma Fogarty is not only the strongest person I have ever met and a true warrior, I am lucky to be able to call her a friend, said The Banshees of Inisherin star, 48.

For years, I have been fortunate to witness not only his courage and vulnerability, but also his humor, his stubbornness and his big, big heart too.

Being able to run the Irish Life Dublin Marathon with my friend to celebrate her 40th birthday is something that makes me really happy. She has already won the whole day!

Emma's official birthday, June 25th, was one she never thought possible.

She is fighting a constant battle against the most severe form of this rare genetic disease (recessive dystrophic EB), whose current life expectancy is 30 to 35 years.

Born without skin on her left foot and right arm, the condition causes her skin to blister excruciatingly at the slightest touch – which is why it is also known as butterfly skin.

Doctors said it would be better for me not to make it because my life would be very difficult, she said.

No one expected me to survive this long, as people with my type of EB almost never do, but I was always encouraged to be a fighter.

Reaching 40 shouldn't be a miracle, but for now, it is.

I am asking everyone to donate to Debra, who has been like family to me, so that everyone with EB in Ireland can live the longest and most fulfilling lives possible.

Emma has supported Dubliner Farrell for several of his Irish film premieres, but her life is lived in the constant shadow of the condition: 80 per cent of her body is covered in layers of bandages, necessary to prevent wound infection.

Changing them every other day takes four hours at a time, leaving her screaming in pain.

Funds raised during Emma's Run to 40 on October 27 will be used to fund pioneering research that could transform the future of everyone with EB in Ireland.

If you can support the initiative or would like to join Emma in the Race to 40, visit:debra.ie/runto40

SEE ALSO – In pictures: Glitz and glamour at Debs, Portlaoise College

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