Remembering Christopher Reeve

At age 42, actor Christopher Reeve was on top of the world. He was a devoted husband, loving father of three children and known to millions for his role as the Man of Steel in the Superman movies. Offscreen, Christopher was an avid sportsman who loved adventure.

Then, on May 27, 1995, his life took a catastrophic turn. At a horseback riding competition, Christopher fell headfirst off his horse and broke his neck. He was in a coma for four days, and woke to tragic news: He was paralyzed from the neck down, and doctors told him he would never walk again. Unable to take a single breath on his own, the 6-foot-4-inch star now needed a respirator to survive.

Though Christopher was at first unsure of what this meant, his wife, Dana, gave him the will to live. He continued acting and directing from a wheelchair, wrote two best-selling books and championed the important fight to find a cure for spinal cord injuries.