Colin Farrell to Run Dublin Marathon to Support Friend With Rare Skin Condition

Irish actor Colin Farrell is gearing up to run the Dublin Marathon to raise awareness and donations for a good cause.
Farrell, 48, will tackle the 26-mile course on Oct. 27 in honor of his longtime friend, Emma Fogarty.
Fogarty, who recently turned 40 in June, is Ireland’s oldest survivor of epidermolysis bullosa (EB)—a rare genetic medical condition that causes the skin to tear or blister easily.
Farrell and Fogarty—who have been friends for the past 14 years—are currently raising money for their fundraising campaign “Run to 40,” which aims to support the Dublin-based charity Debra Ireland.
“I wanted to mark my birthday with [Colin], so I said what’s the better way than to cross the finish line together,” explained Fogarty, who plans to join Farrell during the last few kilometers of the race.
“Emma’s lived with EB now for four decades,” Farrell told Patrick Kielty, the show’s host. “So for every decade of living with EB and surviving EB, we’re doing 1 [kilometer]. I’m gonna push Emma [in her wheelchair] the last 4 k[ilometers].”
Fogarty acknowledged that for those accustomed to running, four kilometers may not sound particularly daunting.
However, due to her condition, which has caused her fingers to fuse together and left her unable to walk, Fogarty said the distance will take a tremendous toll on her body.
Fogarty was born with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, a type of DEB—the most severe form of EB. The Ireland native has wounds similar to third-degree burns over 80 percent of her body. As a result, she must constantly wear bandages, which take hours to apply.
Fogarty was also forced to have her left leg amputated below the knee in November 2019 after being diagnosed with skin cancer, a common complication of EB.
Speaking to Kielty, Fogarty said her pain is both excruciating and unrelenting.
“It’s known as butterfly skin, and it means that my skin is as fragile as the wings of a butterfly basically,” she explained. “So if I bumped off you, it’ll literally tear off a blister.”
According to Debra Ireland, people living with EB generally don’t survive beyond the age of 35. Fogarty is the third person living with her condition to make it to the age of 40.
After being featured on “The Late Late Show,” the duo exceeded their target, amassing nearly €600,000 as of Oct. 21.
During his segment on the Irish talk show, Farrell praised Fogarty for her unwavering positivity, despite the significant challenges she has encountered due to her “uncommonly cruel” condition.
“I’m like most human beings, I moan about this and that and the other,” the actor shared. “And what Emma deals with every day of her life is extraordinary.”
“She’s just one of the most extraordinary human beings I’ve ever met and her spirit and her sense of humor and her kindness and her joy for life [is] astonishing,” he said.