A man who was told he would never walk again has joined the elite club of athletes who have rowed across the Atlantic.

In 2018, Fergus ‘Gussie’ Farrell injured himself lifting a bench in his yard and was rushed to the Mater Hospital. 

He was ushered into the spinal unit for an operation but the prognosis was extremely bleak. 

“Just afterwards, I was told if I got movement within 72 hours, I’d have a 5% chance of getting some sort of movement or power back,” Mr Farrell told The Pat Kenny Show.  

“After 72 hours, if I didn’t, there was zero chance. 

“I got no movement after 72 hours but, thankfully, 21 days later, I moved my big toe.” 

Eventually, Mr Farrell learned to walk again but for quite some time he used a wheelchair and needed help with simple household tasks. 

“I went from the euphoria of having beaten the prediction of not being able to walk again, to being thrown into this manic depression,” he said. 

New challenges

It was at this point that he decided to walk across the length of Ireland. 

“It was challenges that really made me focus the mind,” Mr Farrell said. 

The journey was also meant to “celebrate” his recovery and once he completed it, his old rugby friend Damien Browne approached him with an even bigger challenge - crossing the Atlantic in a 6.2-metre rowing boat.

“I am eternally grateful to Damien for having me on the challenge,” he said. 

As of December 5th, 2023, there have only been 803 successful crossings of the Atlantic in a rowing boat, according to the Ocean Rowing Society. 

It was a daunting task and the pair trained together in Athenry for three months before flying out out to their departure point in New York City. 

'Extraordinarily uncomfortable'

Seeing Manhattan fade away into the distance is a “memory that can never be taken away” but it was also physically exhausting. 

New York City is located by the southbound Labrador current and the pair had to row intensely before they hit the Gulf Stream that helped push their boat northwards. 

It was physically cramped as well, with only a tiny two-metre-long cabin for the men to share.

“Neither Gussie or I are small men, so when you’re both in it - which happens because on the North Atlantic there’s a lot of adverse winds and adverse currents - you can’t row into them and you have to hunker down, so you both have to get into that cabin,” Mr Browne said.

“You can’t row into them and you have to hunker down, so you both have to get into that cabin.” 

In 30°C heat, it was “extraordinarily uncomfortable” as the pair were “literally on top of each other” for their entire journey. 

A documentary about their voyage Man vs Ocean will be broadcast on RTÉ One tomorrow at 9.35pm.

Main image: Man vs Ocean. Picture by: Heavy Man Films