In late months , Colin has received far-flung kudos for upgrade cognisance of the reality of birth a nestling with disabilities .
Back in August, Irish actorColin Farrellwonwidespread praise when he emotionally opened upabout the “terrifying” reality of having a child with disabilities in his first interview about his 21-year-old son James, who was born with Angelman syndrome. James was born in 2003, and Colin shares him with his ex, American model Kim Bordenave.
And Colin — who also has a 15-year-old son called Henry — has reflected some more on his concerns for James’s future in a new interview withCandismagazine, where he explained his and Kim’s decision to settle James in a care facility while they are still technically able to look after him themselves.
He said: “It’s tricky, some parents will say: ‘I want to take care of my child myself.’ And I respect that. But my horror would be… What if I have a heart attack tomorrow, and, God forbid, James' mother, Kim, has a car crash and she’s taken too — and then James is on his own. Then he’s a ward of the state and he goes where? We’d have no say in it.”
“ And one matter I can say about James is that he knows when somebody want to be with him , and he lie with when somebody ’s just supposed to be with him , ” Colin went on . “ So , if he has a carer or a teacher or somebody who ’s doing strong-arm therapy with him and they ’re not fully engaged and fully loving with him , he ’ll just swap off . ”
“What his mother and I want is to find somewhere we like where he can go now, while we’re still alive and healthy, that we can go and visit, and we can take him out sometimes,” Colin continued. “We want him to find somewhere where he can have a full and happy life, where he feels connected. He needs a bigger life than we can afford him, by having a sense of community that he feels connected to, by going out in the van every day and going to the supermarket and doing the shopping together, by going to the beach, museums, movies, all that stuff. Just a connected life."
Colin previously toldPeoplethat James’s additional needs are what motivated him to get sober in the mid-‘00s, with the star renowned for hisparty boy past. He said at the time: “James was about two when I got clean, when I got sober, and he was a big, big part of me putting the bottle down, a big part of it. Because I was in no condition to be a friend, never mind the father of a child which such exacting needs… If it wasn’t for my sobriety, I wouldn’t be able to be there for James and enjoy in the marvels of his life and support him in the way that I feel that I can.”
Reflecting on his oldest son, Colin added: “I’m proud of him every day because I just think he’s magic.”
