Thousands of people stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge daily, but Fergus Farrell is gearing up to cross the bridge as the first steps in a walk across America — part of a much bigger spiritual and physical journey.

Farrell was paralyzed after a 2018 spinal injury left him wheelchair-bound for nearly a year, with little hope of walking again. Eight years later, he is planning to start a roughly 75-day walk from the Brooklyn Bridge to Santa Monica Pier on Aug. 22.

The journey, known as Fergus Walks, is designed to raise awareness of spinal injuries and money for the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and Spinal Injuries Ireland.

“I have an understanding of those aspects of life, from being fiercely independent to disabled and dependent on everybody around me, to having hidden disabilities,” Farrell, a Glasgow, Ireland, resident, said. “It gives me a better outlook on life.”

Accompanied by a vehicle traveling ahead, he plans to walk about 37.5 miles daily, staying in hotels and sometimes being joined by walkers and people in wheelchairs. He is booked for “Good Morning America” on Aug. 17.

“There will be mountains, deserts, everything you can think of, prairies, farmlands,” Farrell said of the nearly 3,000-mile trek, sponsored by Crown, a building envelope company. “We’re not going through many big towns.”

Farrell’s journey will take him through Monument Valley, at the Utah-Arizona border; St. Louis; Columbus, Ohio; the Colorado Rockies; and much of the nation, as well as a literal story of the road to recovery.

“A spinal cord injury is classified as one of the most devastating injuries a human being can sustain,” he said. “It changes your life in an instant. I feel very privileged that I can put one foot in front of another.”

Fergus Farrell, who was paralyzed in a 2018 spinal injury, relearned how to walk and is now preparing to cross the country on foot.Photo courtesy of Fergus Farrell

Farrell operated a motor coach company with 35 buses until his back went out when he carried a 60- to 80-pound metal bench in his yard on Oct. 26, 2018.

“I picked up that bench, took one step. There was a massive explosion in my back,” Farrell said. “I was completely paralyzed from the rib cage down. I was given a 5 percent chance of walking again.”

He ruptured his disks, severing his spinal cord, which led to an operation that day. Lying in bed at Ireland’s National Rehabilitation Hospital, Farrell tried to “not fall into a negative place,” but lost more than the use of his legs.

“In a space of six to 12 months, my business, my body and marriage collapsed,” he said. “I used visualization. I never realized the power of it. I didn’t visualize jumping out of bed and going out the door.”

He visualized simply moving a toe, regaining movement in his toes and then more, continuing physical therapy in pools, with volunteers and equipment until, seven months later, he took his first walk.

“I couldn’t walk more than 20 or 30 meters without falling over,” Farrell said. “I had massive balance issues. I was still told I’d be wheelchair-bound in public. I had a big journey to go.”

Fergus Farrell says his body is still working to reconnect his broken spinal cord, but he is preparing to walk across America.Photo courtesy of Fergus Farrell

After being released from the National Rehabilitation Hospital in 2019, he found himself in a psychiatric ward after the breakdown of his body, marriage and business, as well as morphine addiction.

“Luckly, I was saved by somebody I used to play rugby with,” Farrell added. “I’m extremely lucky to do what I’m doing.”

He has completed the four-peak challenge, climbing Ireland’s four highest peaks, run four ultramarathons and, on the first anniversary of his release from the rehabilitation center, walked across Ireland.

“Ireland is very small,” Farrell said of the 251-kilometer walk. “But it was massive milestone with me.”

He and a ghostwriter wrote “Rebuilding a Man,” and he is a keynote speaker focusing on health, safety, resilience and motivation, speaking to companies from Toyota to construction, data centers and sports groups.

“How did I get there? Hard work,” he said. “My feet are on fire all the time. My body’s all the time trying to reconnect the broken spinal cord.”
Farrell speaks to companies and sports groups about resilience and motivation, drawing on his experience recovering from a spinal cord injury.Photo courtesy of Fergus Farrell

Farrell and a colleague tried to row from the Chelsea Piers across the Atlantic in 2022, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge before that trip and stopping after breathing difficulties 16 days into the voyage.

“I took that row on too early in my recovery,” he said. “I wasn’t quite ready for it. I realized that when I got back out of that boat.”

Two years ago, he gave a talk at the Spinal Injuries Ireland Wellbeing Summit, where the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation showed their documentary about Christopher Reeve to an audience of people with spinal cord injuries.

“I remember leaving that summit. I was driving home,” Farrell said, feeling he should do something to help. “I said to myself I’m going to walk across America. I’m going to raise awareness and money.”

He worked with a clinical nutritionist, walked over 3,000 kilometers in 18 months and trained. He plans to walk about six kilometers an hour daily for 10 to 12 hours, including breaks.

“People of all abilities can join me at certain stages, which I hope they do,” Farrell said. “This journey is about connecting with people as well.”

Heavy Man Films is working on a documentary, and Amelia Gibberoth, a writer, photographer and videographer, is documenting the trip.
Fergus Farrell’s cross-country journey will be documented by Heavy Man Films as he walks nearly 3,000 miles from Brooklyn to Santa Monica.Photo courtesy of Fergus Farrell

Farrell drove the route eight weeks ago, seeing what he would be doing.

“I’m a visual person. I don’t learn by reading. I learn by seeing,” he said. “I don’t take directions by remembering road names. I learn it by what I see on the road. Everything I do is about visualization.”

He would be the first person with a spinal cord injury to walk across America, but not the first from Ireland.

John Ennis, a 67-year-old Irish immigrant, walked from Coney Island to San Francisco in 1910 in 80 days to prove people born outside the United States could do it as well as Americans.

“I’m going to be leaning massively on my kids. They’re my inspiration,” Farrell said. “They’re a big reason I’m doing this. I want to show them, work hard enough, you can do anything.”

His children, Amy, 15; Bradley, 13; and Feilim, 8, plan to see him off as he leaves before their school season starts.

“My kids are going back to school in the first week of September. I want them to be in New York to wave me off,” Farrell said. “I’ll give them a big hug and kiss, tell them I love them and see them in two and a half months time.”