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Christopher Reeve

Origin: New York, New York
(September 25, 1952 - October 10, 2004)

Heroic Values: Achievement, Caring, Courage, Faith, Perseverance, Selflessness

Background

Christopher D'Olier Reeve, born September 25th, 1952, was an American actor, director, producer and writer. Many know him as one of, if not the greatest superhero of all time, Superman. Superman was a great hero because he had all his powers and abilities, was virtually invincible, and chose to use them to help earth and not destroy it. Christopher Reeve in real life was much like his on screen counterpart. Minus being virtually invincible of course.

In 1987, the year of his final Superman movie, Reeve was asked by Ariel Dorfman to lead a public rally in support of 77 Chilean actors, directors, and playwrights. They were all sentenced to death by dictator Augusto Pinochet for criticizing his regime in their works. A cartoon ran in the newspaper showing him carrying Pinochet by the collar with the caption "Where will you take him, Superman?" For his heroics, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Bernardo O’Higgins Order, the highest Chilean distinction for foreigners. He also received the Obie Prize and the Annual Walter Brielh Human Rights Foundation award.

In May of 1995, Reeve was competing in a three day equestrian competition. During the cross country portion of the competition, Reeve was flung from his horse. Reeve had no recollection of the incident. A few witnesses were present but all had different stories such as his horse was going over the third jump then suddenly stopped, another said a rabbit spooked the horse, and another said his horse was spooked by it's own shadow. He held on but the bridle, bit, and reins were torn off the horse and tied his hands together. He landed head first on the other side of the fence, luckily his helmet prevented any brain damage, but with the weight of his 215 pounds frame, the impact cracked his first and second vertebrae. Three minutes before paramedics arrived he was not breathing, he was then flown by helicopter to the University of Virginia medical center.

Reeve went through rehab at the Kessler Rehabilitation Center in New Jersey. Once being released, he felt deeply inspired by patients he met while staying there. He realized that because of constantly being covered by the media, he could use his name to the benefit of everyone with spinal cord injuries. In 1996, he appeared at the Academy Awards to a long standing ovation and gave a speech about Hollywood's duty to make movies that face the world's most important issues head-on. Reeve was elected Chairman of the American Paralysis Association and Vice Chairman of the National Organization on
Disability. He co-founded the Reeve-Irvine Research Center, which is now one of the leading spinal cord research centers in the world. He created the Christopher Reeve Foundation to speed up research through funding, and to use grants to improve the quality of the lives of people with disabilities. The Foundation has given more than $65 million for research, and more than $8.5 million in quality-of-life grants. The Foundation has funded a new technology called "Locomotor Training" that uses a treadmill to mimic the movements of walking to help develop neural connections, in effect re-teaching the spinal cord how to send signals to the legs to walk. This technology has helped several paralyzed patients walk again.

Throughout this time, Reeve kept his body as physically strong as possible by using specialized exercise machines. He did this both because he believed that the nervous system could be regenerated through intense physical therapy, and because he wanted his body to be strong enough to support itself if a cure was found. In 2000, he began to regain some motor function, and was able to sense hot and cold temperatures on his body. His doctor, John MacDonald of Washington University in St. Louis, asked him if anything was new with his recovery. Reeve then moved his left index finger on command. "I don't think Dr. MacDonald would have been more surprised if I had just walked on water," said Reeve in an interview.

In 2002, Christopher and his wife Dana opened the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center, a federal government facility created through a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention non-compete grant. "When somebody is first injured or as a disease progresses into paralysis, people don't know where to turn. Dana and I wanted a facility that could give support and information to people. With this new Center, we're off to an amazing start," said Reeve. Reeve lobbied for expanded federal funding on embryonic stem cell research to include all embryonic stem cell lines in existence and for open-ended scientific inquiry of the research by self-governance. On October 10th, 2005, Reeve passed away due to cardiac arrest caused by a systemic infection. Reeve was 52.

Again, I chose him as my hero to write about because when he was healthy and his body was fully capable, he helped those who needed it because he knew what power his name held, he could either help others, or use it all to himself. He chose to help others with it. Even after his accident and being paralyzed, he dedicated his life to helping others in his situation as well as keeping up working on his body so that it would be strong enough to support itself in case one day they came up with a cure for his paralysis. Superman on the big screen, Superman in real life. Christopher Reeve was a hero.

Submitted by: Adam Resh

Sources

Wikipedia
The online encyclopedia

The Foundation
The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation

IMDB.com
Reeve's profile