Christopher Reeve

     My Hero

         By: Estella from Dublin

 A hero doesn't have to be somebody like Superman, or the Flash.  Heroes don’t have to have magical powers. They are motivated by what their heart says is right.  A hero possesses traits like courage, and passion. They must also possess perseverance, and caring.  My hero is Christopher Reeve.

Christopher Reeve was born on September 25, 1952 in New York City to Barbara Pitney and Franklin D’Olier Reeve. While his mother was a journalist, his father was a teacher, novelist, and scholar. He also had a younger brother, Benjamin. He had various stage and television roles before becoming the star of Superman and its sequels. In 1995 he became paralyzed from the neck down following a horse-riding accident. He then founded the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation in 1998 to promote research on spinal cord injuries.  Christopher Reeves was famous as an actor. He died on October tenth, 2004 because of heart failure.

Heroes have traits that signal they are heroes.  Christopher Reeve has traits like passion and perseverance.  A symbol of passion is how after he had a fall. He got up and founded the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation in 1995.  Christopher himself was paralyzed the neck down in a horse riding incident. He was passionate about improving lives of people with spinal paralysis, by researching this.  His perseverance came in when he fell in his horseriding incident. Determined to walk again, he worked hard on rehabilitation. By 2004, Christopher Reeve had regained sensation in 70% of his body, had moved one of his fingers. In water, his arms and legs.  He never gave up hope and kept trying, to accomplish founding the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, and to be able to somewhat move! These are some of the hero traits Christopher has.

Reeve also has the traits courage and caring.  He had courage to try to move again, and speak out for things like stem-cell research.  He had courage to start an organization. He had passion and perseverance. Although he was not able to move from the neck down, Reeve continued to travel, do public appearances, and serve as a voice for the paralyzed in the United States.  He also showed caring. He made a role model for people. He cared for people in situations like him, paralyzed from the neck down. He did this by providing a opportunity to research spine paralysis with the Christopher Reeve Foundation.

Because of these qualities, Christopher Reeve is my hero.  He showed and demonstrated things like courage, passion, perseverance, and caring.  He inspires me to keep going. To also be considerate to others, and more. Even though he fell in a horseback riding event, and got paralysis from the neck down, he persevered.  Also, he founded the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, to make people similar to him feel comfortable. He powered through challenges. Christopher Reeve wasn’t just a hero, he was the Man Of Steel.

Thank you for reading my hero essay!