Before Henry Cavill and Brandon Routh’s big-screen Superman portrayals, Christopher Reeve gracefully set the bar with his hopeful and charismatic performance as the Man of Steel across four DC movies in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Along with the actor having a timeless legacy as Superman, he also left behind the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which was dedicated to finding treatments and cures for people with spinal cord injuries after Reeve himself became a quadriplegic in 1995 as a result of a horse riding accident. As medical advancements continue today, Reeve’s son recently spoke about how his late father’s work remains important.
One of Christopher Reeve’s three children, William Reeve, is a news correspondent for ABC News and Good Morning America. During a segment on ABC this week, Reeve spread awareness about an incredible breakthrough that gave one paralyzed man the ability to walk again through an artificial intelligence. After reporting on the breakthrough, William Reeve had this to say while conversing with anchors Robin Roberts, Michael Strahan and George Stephanopoulos:
If I could be a proud son for a moment: you can draw a straight line from his advocacy, bringing so much attention and money to research and trying to find cures to developments like today… I wish he were here for a million reasons, many of them personal, but also he would be the first in line to sign up for this procedure. He always said ‘Oh, to be a rat,’ because they are always testing rats. He would want this and would be thrilled today. This is a huge moment in the community.
On May 27, 1995, Christopher Reeve broke his neck when he was thrown from a horse while he was taking part in an equestrian competition. The accident led the Superman actor to become paralyzed from the shoulders down. He became a wheelchair user, along with needing the use of a ventilator until he died on October 10, 2004 at the age of 52 due to complications after being treated for an infected pressure ulcer that was causing sepsis. During his last nine years on Earth, the actor became a disability activist. As his son shared, he wishes his father was “here today” to see the medical advancements taking place today which he believes the actor would have been first in line for. Check out the ABC segment:
As William Reeve shared just a couple days before the 28th anniversary of his father’s accident, which occurred when the news correspondent was just three years old, the breakthrough “sounds like science fiction,” but it has allowed a real man to walk after a decade-long battle with paralysis. The medical advancement is in the “early stages” of development, considering only this man has used it, but the breakthrough sounds mindblowing. Can A.I. really build a digital bridge between one’s brain and spine and therein allow a paralyzed person to walk? It looks like it’s already possible!
As James Gunn searches for the next Superman actor who will star in Superman: Legacy following Henry Cavill’s run as the hero (and Cavill actually tried on Christopher Reeve’s Superman suit once), it’s great William Reeve is using his own platform on ABC to remember his father and continue spreading the word about his legacy with disability activism.
