Hollywood hunk Colin Farrell is thankful his 4-year-old son James was diagnosed with neuro-genetic disease early. "[James] is nothing but a gift," Farrell, 31, said. "As far as I'm concerned he's exactly the way he should be."
Speaking on Irish TV show Tubridy Tonight, where he was promoting his latest movie, In Bruges, Farrell addressed the topic of James, whose Angelman Syndrome was revealed publicly last year.
"Angelman's is a neuro-genetic disorder," he explained. "The 15th chromosome is dormant. It affects their fine motor skills. They say that one in 30,000 children is affected by it."
Colin says, that according to his father - James was showing signs of illness before his first birthday, which led to an early diagnosis for the tot.
"I've been very lucky that it was early because he started having seizures at about eight or nine months," Farrell says. Initially doctors believed James had cerebral palsy - but he was soon diagnosed correctly and "we got early intervention," he adds,
The genetic disorder, which can affect movement and balance meant that James walked his first few steps last fall, when he was 4. "It's just different," said the actor. "It's not different to me. He has his own path. He's just brilliant."
Farrell shares custody of James with the boy's mother, model Kim Bordenave. He said he decided to go public about his son's health after people started asking questions about his involvement with the Special Olympics.
"I didn't talk about my son [but] I felt like I was betraying him, like it could be misconstrued as shame, which would be terrible, because he's such a celebration.
"I look around and I see people who move perfectly, who walk with grace, who speak with great diction and clarity and a great use of the English language and we're all miserable f--ers – including me, at times.
"And then I see this fella who doesn't move the way what's perceived to be 'normal' is, and he's as happy as can be."
By Owen Williams, Feb 26 2008 © Copyright 2008 - Showbiz Spy
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