Christopher Reeve (1952-2004)
On October 10, 2004,
Christopher Reeve went into cardiac arrest Saturday while at his home in Pound
Ridge, New York, then fell into a coma and died Sunday at a hospital surrounded
by his family. Reeve had developed a
serious systemic infection from a pressure wound, a common complication for
people living with paralysis.
The former actor made
international headlines when he suffered paralysis after falling from his horse
in an equestrian event. He was
paralyzed from the neck down. Following
that, he embarked on a new life, fervently advocating spinal cord and stem cell
research. Because of his efforts, he
drew much attention to spinal cord injuries and the research that can treat such
critical ailments.
Reeve was born September 25,
1952, in New York City, son of a novelist and a newspaper reporter. After graduating from Cornell University in
1974, Reeve pursued his dream of acting, studying at Juilliard under the
legendary John Houseman. He acted on Broadway
debut opposite Katharine Hepburn in A Matter of Gravity in 1976, and then
continued to distinguish himself in a variety of stage, screen and television
roles. It wasn’t until his title role
in Superman in 1978 that he gained international acclaim as an actor. He would do 2 more Superman movies, as well
as other movies.
Active in many sports, Reeve
owned several horses and competed in equestrian events regularly.
Tragically in May 1995,
Christopher Reeve suffered his paralyzing injury. Witnesses to the 1995 accident said Reeve’s horse had cleared two
of 15 fences during the jumping event and stopped abruptly at the third,
flinging the actor headlong to the ground. Doctors said he fractured the top two vertebrae in his neck and
damaged his spinal cord.
After the accident, he remained
strong - I refuse to allow a disability to determine how I live my life.
I don’t mean to be reckless, but setting a goal that seems a bit daunting
actually is very helpful toward recovery, Reeve said.
He became active in
promoting spinal chord injuries and treatments. He raised public awareness about the significance of medical
research and the challenges facing those with disabilities, he also educated
families about the importance of having adequate health and disability
coverage.
In 1999, Reeve became the
Chairman of the Board of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation (CRPF).
CRPF, a national, nonprofit organization, supports research to develop
effective treatments and a cure for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury and
other central nervous system disorders. CRPF also allocates a portion of its resources to grants that
improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.
It was largely his work with
the CRPF, he successfully lobbied to double the National Institute of Health to
double its budget in five years from 12-billion dollars in 1998 to 27.2-billion
in 2003. He worked tirelessly to obtain
increased funding from both the public and private sectors to cure Parkinson’s,
Alzheimer’s, MS, ALS, stroke, as well as to repair the damaged spinal
cord. He also helped establish the
Reeve-Irvine Research Center at the UCI College of Medicine, which supports the
study of trauma to the spinal cord and diseases affecting it, with an emphasis
on the development of therapies to promote the recovery and repair of
neurological function. Reeve also emerged
to lobby Congress for better insurance protection against catastrophic injuries.
He saw the promise in stem
cell research in potentially treating spinal chord injuries and in 2000, vowed
that he would walk again. His advocacy
for stem cell research helped it emerge as a major campaign issue between U.S.
President George W. Bush and his Democratic opponent, John Kerry.
Upon his death, both
presidential candidates paid tribute to Reeve as a hero.
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