ABLEnews Extra

                        The Will to Live

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Inner strength, and a world of support, help Christopher Reeve after
his paralyzing accident

"You are a Superman and you will pull through this like the hero that
you are."..."Almost three years ago...a spinal cord injury not too
different from yours left me hospitalized....It was the darkest moment
of my life. I've come miles since that moment, and life is every bit
as enjoyable and worthwhile as it ever was." ..."Please don't give up.
You have much to offer the world."..."There are a lot of people out
there pulling for you." --From online letters sent to Christopher
Reeve

The TV crews have packed up and gone home. So has the throng of
reporters, some who came from as far away as South Africa and
Australia. Doctors no longer give a daily press briefing. But
Christopher Reeve is far from alone in battling back from the
devastating riding accident on May 27 that shattered his first two
vertebrae and left him near death. Three weeks later the 42-year-old
actor can sit upright, has some feeling restored to his upper body and
is listening to friends and family members read aloud to him from the
thousands of letters and telegrams that have arrived from around the
world and have cheered his spirits.

After Reeve was helicoptered to the University of Virginia Medical
Center in Charlottesville, there was no guarantee that he would even
survive. He is still paralyzed and remains in intensive care, unable
to use his limbs or to breathe without a respirator. And yet, says his
doctor, neurosurgeon John Jane, "he's a wonderful patient. He's so
eager to be mobilized."

His progress thus far has been heartening. Seven days after the
accident, Reeve reported sensation in his chest, signifying that his
spinal cord was not severed. He has since been able to flex the
trapezius muscles in his back. "That's a positive sign," said Jane.
"He is consciously moving this part of his body." Reeve is now able to
sit with his neck supported in a brace and to eat solid foods. He
initially could communicate only by mouthing words, but now can speak
when his respirator is removed. (His first message was, "Testing--one,
two, three.") Reeve's most grueling ordeal so far was the 6 1/2-hour
operation on June 5 to implant U-shaped wires in his neck to prevent
further damage from bone fragments near his spinal cord. Informed
that the surgery was a success, he smiled.

Beyond such incremental improvements, Reeve has been buoyed by the
vigilant company of his wife, singer-actress Dana Morosini, 34, and
their son, Will, 3. His former lover, Gae Exton, 43, and their two
children, Matthew, 16, and Alexandra, 12, who flew to his bedside from
England, have now left. The family has been overwhelmed with 20,000
cards and letters--not to mention hundreds of faxes--and visitors have
included Robin Williams, Reeve's former roommate at New York City's
Juilliard School when the two were first starting out in show
business. Given Williams's friendship--and zaniness--Reeve perhaps got
a dose of the best medicine of all: laughter.
                                                     
[The Will to Live, People Online, June 26, 1995]

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