In Tribute


Christopher Reeve’s impact on the disability community was profound, touching not only people with disabilities, but also researchers, parents of disabled children, and those in the durable medical equipment industry, among others. Here is a sampling of spontaneously written tributes.

Christopher taught me to use the two four-letter words: hope and cure. Regarding hope, he said that without hope we have nothing. Regarding cure, he said that we must go all the way. These are hard words for a scientist to use. We don’t want to give false hope and we must have confidence that a cure is possible. It was probably six weeks after his injury when I received a call from him asking if I would see him at the Kessler Institute, where he was undergoing rehabilitation. He was in his wheelchair, still a little hesitant with the timing of his respirator that was providing the breath for his voice, but very pointed with his questions. He asked me whether there would ever be therapies that could restore function to people with spinal cord injury. I told him yes and explained why. He then asked how long. I said to him that if we had sufficient resources, worked hard, and were a little lucky, we may have the first therapies within seven years. Of course, this was in 1995 and seven years have come and gone.

It is now the 10th year after Christopher Reeve’s injury in May 1995. During these years, we have seen the reversal of the dogma that the spinal cord cannot regenerate and the first application of therapies that are beginning to restore function in people. Throughout all this time, Christopher was a shining beacon of hope for cure around the world. He has raised more money for spinal cord injury research than anybody in history. More important, he gave unstintingly of himself day and night to the cause. He testified to Congress numerous times, spoke up for stem cell research, visited spinal cord injury laboratories and centers all over the world, and gave innumerable heartfelt speeches to millions.

He truly touched everybody that saw him and worked with him. He was a great man, a wonderful friend, and will be sorely missed. My hope is that we will realize his dreams of a cure for spinal cord injury in the very near future. I know that this would make him happy.

–Wise Young, SCI researcher

I was fortunate to be in his audience attending a large public seminar on June 12, 1997, in Columbus, Ohio. I walked into the auditorium and eagerly awaited his presence. I was choked up immediately seeing him on stage. He labored as he spoke, sucking air through his ventilator. I listened to every word. He spoke about his agony in the hospital after his spinal cord injury. He expressed his thoughts about what he had lost while he wallowed in self-pity. The restless nights tormented him. The mental suffering was unbearable. He found that self-pity was a trap, leading him to deep depression. He realized that if he focused on a hopeful future, he was able to envision his world as a better place. His lesson stuck with me.

On June 13, 1998, while riding my bicycle, I was crushed by a falling tree and paralyzed from the waist down. In my hospital room, I agonized over my losses and wept throughout the seemingly endless days and nights. Then I remembered that Reeve was a role model for people with spinal cord injuries. I knew that his presence would help me through this incredible ordeal. A friend had taken Christopher Reeve’s photo at the seminar the year before. I asked him to bring me that picture. He came the next day with the photo and placed it on the wall of my hospital room.

Reeve’s photo helped me to re-channel my thoughts. I worked to limit the time I cried, and tried to imagine what life would be like living with my spinal cord injury. As I looked at the photo, I thought of all that Reeve was doing to raise money so a cure could be found. I also realized that there are millions of others living a normal life with their injuries.

In the years that followed, my recovery continued. Every time Reeve was on television I watched him. I read both of his books, as well as the collection of letters sent to Reeve, published in Dana Reeve’s book. Every article in newspapers or magazines that featured him captured my interest. I was significantly influenced by Reeve in the way I viewed myself, my injury, and what I needed to do with my life.

–Rosemarie Rossetti, T11 paraplegic and motivational speaker

It hit home once again how truly fragile we quads are. He was a remarkable role model, and really brought SCI into the spotlight. I felt terrible that day in ’95 when he became injured, but prayed he’d survive, because I knew he’d be a huge advocate for us. Before his injury, I used to say it would take someone such as Chelsea Clinton to become injured before lawmakers woke up. Chris not only woke them up, he shaped them up!

It always angered me when people griped that he was all about finding a cure and not fighting more for the care of people currently living with spinal cord injuries. I think those people were simply jealous and envied him. They needed to leave the poor guy alone who was fighting for their paralyzed asses, including their quality of life! That always struck a nerve with me.

Since my fateful day in 1993, I’ve always used this analogy: People who walk feel horrible about what they consider “petty complaining” when they meet a paraplegic, because they couldn’t fathom what losing the ability to walk could possibly be like. On the other hand, a paraplegic can’t imagine what a quadriplegic endures with limited arm use, no use of the fingers, and inability to cough or sweat, etc. … A quad cannot conceive of what a high-level quad like Chris Reeve, unable to move anything or breathe without a ventilator, goes through on a daily basis.

The point is, we all, each of us, have a daily choice to choose whether we want to have a positive or negative attitude with the cards we are currently dealt. Life is subject to change, thank God, at any given moment, and we will all be OK in the end, no matter what, even in death. This is all a learning experience for each of us, and we are lucky to be on this journey called life.

–Michelle Hlavek, C5 quadriplegic, newly married

In an age where the term “hero” has been diluted by overuse, Chris Reeve stands out as one who defined the word. As a person of accomplishment and wealth, he could have chosen a variety of paths following his devastating spinal cord injury in 1995. The one he chose, to throw the full force of his talent, fame and energy into promoting medical research, accelerated a revolution in the field of spinal cord injury. His efforts raised awareness of spinal cord injury and related conditions to unprecedented levels and led to vastly increased funding for such research from both government and corporate entities. His relentless optimism about the prospects for success in this research motivated scientists, investors and other talented people to focus on this field. Today, for the first time in history, we are close to seeing therapies that will preserve or restore neurological function after injuries to the spinal cord or brain.

Sadly, his passing brings into focus the seriousness of the secondary complications associated with SCI. Increasingly, scientists at academic institutions and pharmaceutical and biotech companies understand that they can make enormous contributions to the quality of life of people with SCI. Perhaps more than any other individual, Chris Reeve was responsible for this new appreciation of the possibilities of SCI research.

–Ron Cohen, president and CEO of Acorda Therapeutics

Chris Reeve died from complications resulting from his spinal cord injury. It’s the same thing that may eventually kill my son Jeffrey.

Chris broke his neck while jumping a horse; Jeff broke his neck while diving into a swimming pool. Life was never the same for either. Both lost feeling in and use of every part of their bodies below the neck. Neither could breathe without mechanical assistance. Both have been fighting a ceaseless battle against deterioration and disease.

But Chris decided to fight a bigger battle, against paralysis itself.

There is an invisible line that has formed all across the world, made up of people with spinal cord injury waiting for a cure. I have said for years that when they find that cure, Chris Reeve deserved to be first in line to get it. But not because Chris was a celebrity. He deserved to be first in line for a cure because he made the line.

–Richard Galli, author of Rescuing Jeffrey

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