Colin Farrell's son has cerebral palsy

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu

October 17, 2007 08:18am

Article from The Daily Telegraf, Taken from news.com.au

HOLLWOOD hellraiser Colin Farrell has revealed that his young son struggles to walk, speak and learn because he suffers from a form of cerebral palsy.

Four-year-old James was diagnosed with the rare condition Angelman Syndrome before he reached his first birthday.

Reformed wildman Farrell has now chosen to speak out about his son's condition in the hope that it will give inspiration to other parents.

Farrell said: "With my son the only time I'm reminded that there is something different about him - that he has some deviation of what is perceived to be normal - is when I see him with other four-year-olds.

"Then I go, 'Oh yeah', and it comes back to me. But from day one I felt that he's the way he's meant to be.

He also says that he feels incredibly blessed to have his son in his life.

"There is no heartbreak about it, it's not a sad story. I'm incredibly blessed to have him in my life," he told Britain's Daily Mail.

'He has enriched my life incredibly and I wouldn't have it any other way."

And Farrell was eager to praise the efforts of little James in coping with his disorder, a form of cerebral palsy which is usually characterised by developmental delay, speech impediment and seizures.

"He took his first steps about six weeks ago and it was four years in the making. All the work is his - he's worked his a**e off for four years and when he took the steps it was incredible. There wasn't a dry eye in the house.

"He's broken that barrier and it's about building on that now."

James was born in September 2003 and Farrell and his ex-girlfriend Kim Bordenave - an American model - discovered that he had Angelman Syndrome when he was just seven months old.

- with BANG Showbi

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