Christopher Reeve was Superman in movies that were popular the whole world over. Tall, handsome, and athletic, Reeve was expected—in real life—to do superman things.

Then, on May 27, 1995, when Reeve was riding his horse in a riding competition, the horse stopped just as it was about to jump over a meter-high fence; Reeve fell forward over the head of the horse and landed on his head. In the fall, two bones in his back were broken. Multiple fractures in his backbone injured the connections to his brain and left him unable to move or breathe on his own. Suddenly, Superman was paralyzed from his neck down.

When Reeve regained consciousness after the accident, he was in the hospital. He was suspended upside down. He heard a man speaking with a Russian accent: it was his friend, actor Robin Williams, doing an imitation of a doctor and having fun. Reeve laughed; his spirits were high. After all, he was still alive. Robin and Chris have been friends since they were students together at a school of performing arts where they were both pursuing a master’s degree in drama.

As young actors, they had promised that if one of them became successful, then he would help the other. Little did they realize they would both become famous and that one would need the help of the other so much. Williams not only offered the emotional support of a close friend; he also pledged to pay the massive medical bills. However, Reeve was determined not to ask for help.

Today, Reeve lives at home with his wife, Dana, and their young son. Reeve has a wheelchair, the first of the “sip and puff” wheelchairs. There is a tube (like a straw to drink a soda) at his mouth; to go forward or backward, to the left or right, he sips air in or blows air out and into the straw. A breathing machine that helps him inhale and exhale rides with him on the chair.

A clear tube goes from the machine into a hole in Reeve’s neck. He talks on the exhaled breath. Although Reeve can’t help but rely on the machine, most of the time, he is still able to breathe on his own for intervals. To other people who have suffered injuries similar to those that Reeve has, he is a model of courage and resolve. He believes in living life to its fullest, and he strives to be able to do more.

Truly, the terrible injury has not stopped this incredible man. For months after the accident, Reeve was out in public with Robin Williams. Together they appeared at a dinner meeting of the Creative Coalition, a group of celebrities who do good work. Reeve has been interviewed on television as well. He talks about the challenge of being different, of working to get back some of his abilities, and of how his life has changed.

He also talks about how he is going to walk again. A twenty-four-year-old woman, named Marshae Ohms, learned to walk again after a similar injury. It took her two years of hard work to overcome the consequences of the injury to her spine. Christopher Reeve’s goal is like hers: to walk again.

Reeve’s physician reports that, one step at a time, Reeve has conquered every obstacle on the way to being independent of the machines. Although a full recovery from such a serious injury is not thought to be possible, he is recovering muscle movement and will likely be free of the breathing device one day.

His ambition, before the accident, was to direct a movie. Actually, despite being confined to a wheelchair, the former Superman has directed and even starred in several projects. Moreover, his efforts in both raising money and calling attention to the needs of the disabled have met with considerable success.