"He took six steps and I burst into tears." Colin Farrell reveals his son's rare condition

Colin Farrell gave a rare comment to People about his 20-year-old son James, who he shares with Canadian model Kim Bordenave. James suffers from Angelman syndrome, which is characterized by developmental disabilities, speech delays, and intellectual disabilities.

"At first I thought he was just a very quiet child. But then he started to lag behind in many ways. He wasn't sitting, he wasn't crawling. We realized something was wrong."

James was diagnosed when he was two years old. According to the actor, doctors gave a disappointing prognosis: they warned that their son might never be able to walk. However, their fears did not come true: the boy started walking before his fourth birthday. Farrell notes that he will never forget his son’s first steps. “I knew that they (James and his occupational therapist. — Ed.) were working on speech and walking. The occupational therapist came up to me and said, ‘James wants to show you something.’ She showed me where to stand, and then she picked him up, put him on his feet and said, ‘Walk.’ It was magical. I will never forget the look of concentration on his face as he walked toward me. He took six steps, and I burst into tears,” he said. The actor noted that his son has to try very hard to perform everyday activities that are familiar to everyone, such as eating on his own. "I'm proud of him every day, I think he's just magical."

According to the actor, he is very worried about what will happen to his son if something happens to him or James's mother. "I have the advantage of a career in film. But we still face difficulties - we need to find support for James. We think about what his life will be like in the future. My biggest fear is that if something happens to his mother or me, and James is 30 or 40 years old, he will have to go to a special institution," the actor said. He added that he created a foundation that will help families with special needs children. "It is very important for James and for all our children to feel that they are needed, to feel that they are part of society."

In addition to James, Farrell also has a son, Henry, who was born in 2009. His mother is Polish actress Alicja Bachleda, with whom the actor broke up in 2010, a year after the birth of their son.