Christopher Reeve

Christopher Reeve as Superman (internet)

My hero is Christopher Reeve. I admire him because of his extreme willpower to live (he was on a wheelchair) and his strength to inspire and support other people with the same condition. He was born September 25, 1952, in New York City and died October 10, 2004. He was an actor who had an important role in dramatic serial Love of Life, in Gray Lady Down, in the movie Superman, Somewhere in Time, Superman 2,...Reeve frequently sought the challenge of parts that cast him against type--playing characters that were gay, sociopathic or villainous. He played in The Bostonians and The Remains of the Day.

In a movie Superman it was my first time when I heard about Christopher Reeve. In my opinion he made Superman believable by playing him as a hero with brains and a heart. I think that is not power what makes Superman a hero, but that he has the maturity to use the power wisely.

Christopher Reeve on the horse (internet)

"Reeve was also a superb athlete who did his own stunts in films and an avid outdoorsman. By the 1990's, horses had become his passion. In May of 1995, Christopher Reeve fell down from the horse and fractured the uppermost vertebrae in his spine. Reeve was instantly paralyzed from the neck down and unable to breathe. Prompt medical attention saved his life and literally reattached Reeve's head to his spine. After 6 months Reeve returned to his home in Bedford, New York, where Dana, his love, had begun major renovations to accommodate his needs and those of his electric wheelchair which he operates by sipping or puffing on a straw. Ironically, this most self-reliant and active of men was now facing life almost completely immobilized and dependent on others for his most basic needs."

Christopher Reeve after the accident (internet)

Prior to injury, Christopher Reeve, was in my opinion one of many famous actors. I admired him because he had been involved with the liberal causes and charities on the arts, environment, children, and human rights had equal priority for him with his career in the performing arts. After the injury he became a hero for me because he did not give up. Less than a year after his injury, Reeve began to accept invitations for speaking engagements. Traveling with a team of aides and nurses he has crisscrossed the country, speaking at the Peter Lowe Success Seminars, at universities, benefits, and at many functions relating to disability issues. Reeve narrated an Emmy Award winning documentary for HBO called Without Pity. I admire him because he returned to acting with a small but pivotal role in the CBS TV-movie A Step Toward Tomorrow in 1996, and that same year Reeve made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed HBO film In the Gloaming starring his good friend Glenn Close. Reeve's activism since becoming spinal cord injured originally involved bringing more scientists into Neurology to more quickly discover a cure, along with doubling the budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a government agency in the executive branch that is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. His experiences with his own insurance company and, particularly, the experiences of other patients he had met at Kessler led him to push for legislation that would raise the limit on catastrophic injury health coverage from $1 million to $10 million.

I concluded that Christopher Reeve is still a hero. He made a big difference in my life. Because of him I look at handicapped people differently than before. Reeve shows me the power, the possibilities and the results of a fierce and persistent commitment to growth and development. Reeve is hero because: 1. He survived the horse riding accident and challenged himself physically during countless months of painful physical therapy. 2. Because he remained committed to his role as a loving husband and doting father 3. Because he kept hope alive in the face of injury and paralysis that can destroy all hope-in the face of having to depend on his wife and many others to feed, wash, change, move and carry him to the doctor. 4. Because he turned his focus away from his paralysis and began figuring out how he could live afresh.