REEVE

--. hristoDher Re€ve Doints to a small this is my space, he tells me, swivellng bis
F mob ;Dhon€.sizel box near his left
I thigh. '1 head aror:ad with mock-imperiousness. The
should exPlaio that I'm bmily dog is told to get lost when he snifs et
lft doiag traintg right Dow so evetr the biscuits &at are b€ing served.
J while we re doinc this itterview I'm
doing ar exercise," be says. "Ihafs Sittins in his sDecial state-of_the-art cbair,
why you're which he can m6ve wittr siDs arrd Dufis on a
hearinq Dauses betweeD seDtences. I am Dot plestic tube near his mout-h, the silearold
attache-d^to aventil,atm rigbt now. I am breathine
otr my owtr." Tbe box, he explains, tnnsmits wearing a tigbtsfittiDg blue polo shirt, tan dinos
ahristopher Reeve looks very well i:rdeed.
o iioal *hch forc"t hs diap[ragm to irdate. and, without any iroDy, a pak ofsilver nrnning
"I'm pullirg ir air tbat way and takiDg it in shoes, he still loolc ljke a 6ft3ins Hollywood
naturally tbrough my Dose. So this is a coropletely
differeDt way ofbreathing lha.n just redini:rg ir a chair. as opposed to one wbo has
aad Broadway star; one who haPPens to be
having air pumped into me tnrougb tbe
ventilatoi I am uD to 11 hours iust novt ' beeu forced to be there.
I.lis head is sbaved bald these da)s: a combiiation
ofa long+tarding alopeci:aproblen -he
From tbe moo&t you walk 6om tle sur:Iight
into the coolinq shadows of the American has e.rfier€d from pedodic bah loss since he was
actor's beautifr;l home, near the discreedy 16 - end the heat oTa r€ceDt triD to Israel, which
afflueot country tow! of Bedford, a.n hour's necessitated a low-maintenan:ce style. None of
drive north ftom Neu, York City, it is cleer he
is not a penon "coDined" this stops hil! ftom looking dewstatiDgly
to a wbeelcbair in handsome. Whmbe grins. tle lights go on You
the old, alich6d seDse. His natural identity and can s€e why the Dotonously pidq Itatharine
cbarisma escaped that place a long time ago Hepbum cbose tbe statuesque Reeve to Play
and his pbrsical pr€sence is everywbere Still oDposite ber when sbe vtas casEng tor a
* his stur:iinE w'ife Dana, also ala actor, w'a (s dmadwav comeback productioD in 1975
-imrnediately you dou'n th; entrance hall, your eyes are In frct, one ofthe oddities ofmeetidg R€eve
drawn to the dignifred igure of is that vou realise how deeptv farnilar bis
tle former SuDerman star, who sits veaiting in
his ooen-olai studv. 'Hi, infectious, earnest grin is. He will forever be
hi, welcome to my the hce of Superman - although the irony is
home'," he'announces gra.ndly He cannot shake
hands, so instead visitoB bow and wave. "Yes, that he was iust beEinniroq to c.arve out a dew
niche in H; !'wo;d whin the horse-ridhg
accident that ieft him paralysed took placa A
Christopher Reeve as Superman! the role that first-rate performgnce iD ihe Oscarnomineted
assured his ptace a5 a movie iaon of our times The Remains ofthe Day in 1993 jolted msny
critics into believinE he was about to hit a lun
of too-notch supo6rtinq roles - ratier like
Sea:r'Coo"ery posijamas gonrl Unbrtunately,
he never cot the chance.
Reeve'i ofhce is covered i! posters and
Dbotogaphs from his !€rious movie Fojects
A sloasv shot behind him shows him in full
Suiernan mode, silhouefted against the US
stais gnd shipes; nearby fu an imege froE the
Aids drEma Itr the Gl@miDg, whid he directed
in 1997. iust two vesrs eier hs eccident. A
nassire poster ofthe criticsl] acclai.Ded 2002
t -eke of Uitch*ck s near windoq starritrg
Reeve aDd Daryl Hannah, ftames a large
section ofthe wall. Part ofthe plaise Reeve
received for that film was because many
vielv€rs foqot that he $?s not just acting tbe
pan ofa qua&iplegic. '"Tbe purpose of doitrg
R€3r Window was to raise the stales lrom tie
Hitchcock movie," he says. "In the original,
Jimmy Stewsrt had a broken leg, but in the
remale I am a quadriDlegc living on his own
so -v characer is -,.rcl dore wlrerable. A-nd
vet i[ qave us tbe chsnce to show his resiiience.
and [-was able to showcase some ofthe latest
technolos/ - for example this wheelcbair'
"I liked that proiect because it gave me a
chance to representhe diaabled commlmity in
a verv Dositive liqht. Often disabled cbe.ractels
at vlli.rins, ot tb.y *rallo- i! self-pity. But the
v"ast majority of tbe disebled coBmu.trity are
thst resoucefrrl and that resilieDt. Jwt to give
i'ou an example, studies have sho.*'n that ifa
smal-business-owner hires someMy with >
25.T0.03 THE NERALD MAGAZINE 7

COVERSTORY
> a disability and puts them in the wor\iace,
the able-bodied people become mor€ produe
tive in order to keep up, b€cause the individual
with the disabilty is so motivated. Because for
those ofus who are disabled, having apb gives
meaning to our life. Many able-bodied people
either dont like their job or tal(e it for ganted
or get by just doing the bare minihum. Their
hearts arent reallv in it. But when vou've lost
so much freedombecause of a disability, the
cbance ofwork is verr Drecrous,"
efore his accideEt, Reeve was about
to star in a Francis Ford Coppola
venion ofnobert Louis Stevenson'e
epic Dovel Kidnapped, which was
due to be shot in Ireland. MedtionioE
this leads him across the sea to scotland, a
couatry he tells me he loows well. "I navelled
there when I was at Comell UniveBity, and
tramped a6oss the Higblands," he says. "I
visited Fort \4,illiam and the Isle of Skye, and
I also attended some performances at the
Citizens' Theatie in Glasgow"
Watchitrg these plays made a particular
impressior od the yolmg Reeve, who bad been
raised in a solidly middle-class but peculiarly
socially aware eDvironment by two scholarly
parents. His father, a professor of Slavic
languages at Columbia Udversity and a sometime
firter witb socialism, was by all accounts
not drc easiest ofmen. In one interview about
his parents, Reeve recalled: "They had a tendeacy
to use me like a chess piece." His escape
rcutes wele sDort and the arts. and he excelled
in both. Glance tlrough his best-selling
autobiography Still Me or its inspirational
follow-up Nothing is [apossible and you can
rcad about and see pictues of him lifting
weights, skiing cyclir:g, sailiDg and scuba-
esearch grants to the world's top neuroscientists;
and, via an initiative by Dana, some
$3.5m in quality-of-Me grants to people who
frnd themselves struggling, esp€cially in rural
areas, without equipmeDt or hansport.
diving. Iate! and perhaps inevitably, giv€n the
"I visited scientists at the WeimeDn IDstitute
number ofstables Dear hfu upstate New York in Israel," says Reeve. "It was padicularly
home, he added horse-riding to those skilb. sadsrying because Dr Micbal Schwaru. one of
His intell€ctual abilities and physical presence their leading researchen, visited me here in
won him a place at Comell Univenity; he then Bedfod, I thiDl six to seven years ago. She
went oD to study dmma at the preBtigious talked abouthe idea that cells in the body called
Julliard School in New York, where he sbared mar:robges - the onas that'eat' dead blood cells
a room with Robin Wiliams. By the late and damaged tissue when you burt yourself
sevenhes Reeve had caughthe eyes ofcastiDg can create an erwirjonment for hesling. A s the
direcmrs and Broadway producen who v/ere bod/s emergency response, ifyou will. And
bappy to give him leading-man mles, although Dr Schwartz's theory was that the reasoDs
he was warned he was too tall for fiIms. Yet it scientists have beeIr saying for tiousands of
was that physical stature which caughthe eye yea$ that the spinal cord cao't regenerate was
of Supermad's producers, who walted an simply because nobody lorew how to clean up
unlmown leading man to st€nd toe-to-toe $/ith $s danage right after the injury in order to
such big-name sta$ as GeDe Haclman and creste an ed]/ircdmeDt for regederetion. So she
Marlod Bra[do. R€evds painstaking preparation
for the role of Superman and his br:nbling neeve talks fluendy and in scientifrc detail
said sbe was goi0]g to try and work on that."
jounalist alter ego Clark IGDI paid off the 6ll!, about all this. Reawateningthe academic side
released in 1978, performed handsonely at the ofhis life, he has forced himself to leam i]l as
box ofrce and turned Reeve into a movie star.
The 6}a's sequels, however, were oflesser
quatity, and R€eve s car€er stalled severat tirnes.
In 1987 he split ftom his perher, Gae Exton -
an agent and fomrer model, with whom he had
two drildren, Matthew ard Alexandra - and
his relationship with his parents uraned firrther.
But by the eaiy nineties his Me was back on
surer foodng. He had met and maEied Dana
Morosini atr actress and singer, and they had
had a son, Will. The Remains ofthe Day wrs
in the bag and new 6lm Fojects beckoned.
Then, oD May 27, 1995, his horse, Buck,
hesitated at a jump dudng a dding competition
in \trgida- Reeve fell ftom the aninal's back:
the iroage ofhim landing on his head, then being
taken from the freld in silence to be loaded into
a medical helicoDter. tu locked in the miad of
anyone who saw-it.
He 6:actu€d his 6rst and second vetebrEe.
devastatinghi spinal cord. Suddenlythe glow
of celebrity seeEed instantly obliterated,
replaced by the messy ftailg ofmortal flesh
and blood. The irony tbat the actor best loown
as Superman bad been left paralysed was not
lost on Reeve, who admits that thowhout the
fJ.miag of ttre movies he was atsaid of falling
prey to a-n accident that would geDerate a
headline along tbe lhes of Superman ht by
bus". But now, eightyea$ Jater, hours ofrigorous
daily phpiotherapy meau his deltoids, biceps,
forearms aad leg ouscles look as leao and
atlletica.lly toned as ever. He also likes to boast
that his calf measuements in both legs ar€
exacdy the sane as ttre day he too(the &ll.
The upshot iB that Reeve is still a man iD
coDnsnd Barely 20 miDutes idto our interviev4
aftmale nurse silendy alpea:s from a side rmn,
loeels at tle actols feet and tums a wine-bo,xlike
tap to empty a botde ofurine fton his right
lowerleg area before deftly disappearing "g;n.
The frrst time you s€e this regular went tale
place, it is a memorable and oddly impressive
sigh! not least b€cause a straDge, silent dwelotrr
ment takes place: Reeve Dotes you no[cing it
happening ttliDks, ttren carries on talkiDg. In a
sDlit s€cond vou Iealise ibat in Reeve s urdverse
tiere are some thi::gs simply more important
tian tle way we miglt bave to go to the toilet.
Human dignity is observed not by the act but
by the ddiberate shifted focus; suddenly you
feel a lesser person for even gla*ing downwads.
It is a simple but de statinglyeffective
6rst step oD the joumey to rea.Iising who the
disabled person in the room really is.
I ask Reeveaboutthetripio lsraet,which he
made in his caDacitv as the chairman of the
christopherne;veP;ralysisFolmdation(stated
goal '"To get people up ald out ofwheeldrairs
as fast as possible'). It has gived $42.5m in
organisatiod has, in a short time, pulled
together a range of specialists who are
willing to search for a cure for spinal cord
injury dlat has forced its victids idto wheelchaira.
Then stardng poitrt is tlat in tle past
nedicine has simply got it wrong: the
ceuturies-old claim that the hr:.nran spinal
cord cannot be rcpaired is now seen as
incorrect. Indeed, in Israel Reeve met a
living breathirg and walking exanple of
the oossible future. '"Ihe technique is to
tak; blood from the patients and l
Clockwise from
above! Reeve in his
state-of-lhe art
wheetch.irwith his
wifu Dane;with his
son Matthew on a
recent trip to lsraetto
tearn morcabout
stem-celt r€searcht
endwith Daryt
Hannah inthe 2000
remake of Rear
Reeve lhe athtete
before hi5 accident.
He boaststhat hiscatf
measur€men(5 are
now back to exaclty
whal lh€y used to be
sepamte macmfages out, actiwte
tlem, then surgically put them riglt
back irto the site ofthe lesion. and
**S"'s"*:t""U:::YJ;:i:"Nl
truly extaodinary - a SGyearold Arab-braeli
who suffered a complete transection ofthe
spinal cord Tbat's as bad as it gets - like cuttidg
it with a pair ofscissors. My injury is not nesiy
that severe. But they performed a macrofage
implantation surgery on the 14th day after bis
iDjury, and he theE spent two years in physical
tlempy the rehabilitation in Israel the physical
therapy, is very progressive, very preactive."
There is a chaace. down the road. that this
Eeehent nigbt h+ Reeve $,'alk again one da,
'"The next experiments theyre going to do at
tle Weid|arm will be to combine macrofages
with stem cells to treat DeoDle who've been
iniured for vears. It seemi to-me that therc's a
loac behi;l it tlat na.l(es sense - and, given
the astonishing slrccesso far, I dint it'll tale
more time but it miEht work."
\tewers in the US-bave already beeD treated
to tie sight ofa post-accideDt Christopher R€eve
"walking". This occurred when a computergenerat€d
Reeve stood up and walked onto a
stage in a controversial advert for a US
irNestment firm during the SuperBowl in 2000.
The ad &ew criticism aid praise ilr equal parts:
some sari/ it as a vision ofl,bat could be, others
as a bogw attempto raise hope' This, however,
mnkles Reeve. "I think the only time I am
irritated is when I rcad accusations tbat I am
pmmoting 6Jse hope 6r otherpatients," he says.
"I have heard ftom some disability advocates
who say,
'Forget talking alout ttre crre b€cause
ifs never going to happeD.'But I usually get that
ftompeople who've been lnjured for a very long
time and I hav€ to respond *rat everyone has
the right to deal with their own situations as
they see fit.
"Some people would rather not even dare to
dEam about a cue, and that's OIC But thats
not for me. I feel myjob is to push the scientists
as hard as I can and reprcBent people who'll
never be heard. Ifsome kind oftherapy or
procedure or cure comes slong no one is going
to force you to take it. But a lot ofpeople out
there want it.
"I tbinl I am a realist and a pragmatist ard
I dont think I am bebavidg irlasponsibly. Nor
I rHE HER^Lo MAGAZtNE 25,t0.03

"I as not goi.Dg to tell arryone what deysboulc
believe. but itjust fits my p€rsoDAlity to believe
in en imDlicit conh'a4t hween scientbB and
natientiin whch they've got to do half aDd
we've got to do half. 'I'heyve gor to 68ure out
the biology atrd we bave !o maiDtain olr bodies
iD good ;owb p.hysical co"d+q',,.,3"""p, tu
theraDv when rt b€@mes avslsDre,
ooJof the most diftcult roles be plaSn' he
savs. is takinc calls tom per€Dt! or r€lativas of
otirers rece-ntly injuea with spinal cord
conditioG. It hapDens about twice a weelq he
savs. He calls tf,e patient whereler possible
a;d duo th"- l"dd-.t" r€asons to live: globsl
re*e-arch and aggressiw therapy are helpi:rg
sDinal cord patients now as never b€lor€. he
exDlains.
"n's iust verv hard to heer the voice
ofl teenager. becau!" being a teenager is
difrcult in its€lf snd ifyou add aD injury its
devestating. I dont give h.be hope. but I try to
Doint ' them b a positive dir€ction."
Much attmti;n bas been gven recendy to
Dossible cures imrclvilg stem-cell researcb.
i%cause srem cells are divelopd in the ittitial
days of an embtn's li6. they are regaded in
the scientific world as the rnaster cells from
which al'v ofher wpe of cell can be developer-
Yet b€cads€ tbey;; usualy taken fiom eiher
human embnni (fiom an abortion climc, for
example) or from doned embryos, tbe whole
"t m-cel] debate is sriDe fodder 6r the US's
religious rigbt,.who oppose anything.that
touch€s otr wtrtt they s€e a3 nglrt#.Ee [€rruory
Tbvo coDpeting acts - one for, one egainst -
are cr.frendy mired down in the US Congress.
with Do end'in sight br either. Wbile reslisnc
rb* stem-cel re.seerdl migh not be t]e "magrc
bullet" that will cure his conditio!, Beeve
believes it n'ill mor€ than likely be en integral
Dart of a \Mider complex solution, aod rs
icathiat about America's i.oability to bonour
iB cons-tihrtional reparation ofthe PoweF >
em I Dromoti)]q Glse bope l al! Fying toPush
t}e ftontiers ard I have been saving thinp will
baDDetr in the nesr future that seeued imlnssib'ii
todav Aealn, t come back to tle story of
the guy I iaw walking lin Israel]. which to me
is miraculous."
Speak for any tength of timewith Reeveand
it is DeiDfrrllv oMous be b aurare ofthe realities
ofGcondiiononamrnrberoflevels.Akhough r
he was an A-list Holbr,rcod star in the eigbti$.
the fact is that by the time ofhis accidmt he
lf yousaid in
,
;;;;;i;"G;,b;bts tucks h. once d;d 1995 that I
when the sheer cost ofhb trea@ent sur* in
l"#"f#fffi gff"H#Sffi would see a
;d angy. It was diftcult eoouglr for him: how
muld otlers in the same position afiord ccre? man Wm
Soon he was campaigning &om his chair-ft
f -o*
a tnnseded
ffffir,r,&H#.tffi'iil"fi
*"effi*:5pp;x HffFj*# spinat cord
elecuodes to move his muscles. He does this k
mmuq#mH*ffir*m walk again,
Ei.i!ffit{HfoTffiffi$ | woutd harc
e.ciderfhe wenttbmugb the hell oi mentauy ax
$Y#HffiF.f#Hs.'$:ei'"5H said You werc
$""ffitHH"ffiiffi'.HffflH cn4t And I
0Ddeedoneofthemoctt€rri&ingscenesinR€ar .'
***ili: t*;*"l';1"ryo"fr :"#diffi nave seen |I.
ir#*fl,#H'#tffiy.tr*T And therc's
J"'"1"S'r,:hy"""#x"ATiyi,*r"n
i,i a lot morc
and ohrsicallv readv for a.nv cures that mii
r,1*;r#tv,#r*Hsq:fff t0 come'
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zs,to,or rre xeuro tqaerztre 9

COVER STORY
r ofchurch and state and. indeed, to get
its act together medically. It is perhaps no
surprise that Reeve is not a fan of President
George W Bushr Bill Clinton, however, calls
regularly fiom rvherever he is to check on the
actor's progress.
"I amdisappojnted that the United Statesis
not leading the rvay," says Reeve, but we've
been this route before, with heart transplants
and with IVF treatment- I find that I am
extreme)y puzzled by rvhat I see as a faiiure of
logic. More than a third ofthe excess embryos
tlat a re created in the process lofn/F]butnot
implanted are lhro*n away as medical rvaste
wiah the informed consent ofthedonors. Arrd
vet no state lesrslahne and no one in the federal
iovemment has ever introduced a bill to shut
do1\ n IIIF clinics. So ifyou don't object to I\.F
clinics that throw away viable embryos which
are simply not needed, then how can you object
to tal{ing stem cells from a small numher of
those embryos, to use them tor research that
could cure a vide variery ofdiseases? I don't
get it.I simply do not get it."
Reeve is, however, fewently enthusiastic
about what he sees as the UKs level-headed
approach to the question ofstem-cell research.
''I was particularly impressed by the process in
the UK where the House of Lords select
connnitt€e debated the issue alier testimony
fiom all sides and all points ofview, and then
voted to 'llow gov€rnment tunding of stem
cell research and in fact the creation ofa stem
cel bank. And then, as I understand it, there
was a protest after the fact by pro-life groups;
and the House of Lords select conmittee, as
I understand it, met again - re-opened up the
issue - and again heard more reactions and
obiections. They considered the issue again and
passed it a second time. And today one of the
Reeve is hopefutthat
him towatkagain,
although he isangry
that the us is not
teading thewaywith
suchtechnotogy
best stem cel research programmes in the
world is based in Cambridge, and ofcourse
that s where lvl began as !veu.
Another nurse quiettyenters Reeve's study
as the aftemoon winds down. The passing of
time is marked by a mad cuckoo clock that
nakes loud South Americanbird sounds ever.y
hour Mischievously, Reeve likes to watch
sho.k€d guestsjunp at tle racket - which nany
probably tbink signfies somethirg dreadtul
going wrong with his medical equipment.
He is delighted witl his progress, he says
something many in th€ m€dical community
believe is a sign that aggressive physical therapy,
a $.illingness to try new treatments and an
astonishing display ofwillpower do work. He
says he can now feel sensation across 70 per cent
ofhis body, as opposed to 19 per cent when he
was injured; ca-n $€]k in wat€r ard move his legs
on a mat, or basically an;'where that gravity does
not hold sway; ard, most astonishingly of all,
'The
move his index finger at wil. tal(e-home
message of that for anyone suffering ftom
Parhnson's or a stroke, diabetes, cancer or spinal
.ord injury i. nol lo a.cept decldralionq of
Gnality by doctors who say, Tou'll never move'
or Tou only have x months to live'. Just don't
accept it. Don't buy into it- There's no reason to."
Before I leave. he defiantly tells m€ his
philosophy of )ife these days is a combination
of "acceptance and non-compli.nce". He says
he accepts he is in a chair *.ith a sedous spinal
cord injury and accepts his responsibilities now
as a serious player in the world oflobbists in
Washington, where his foundation has 43
rnembers ofstaft. But, he says: "I am not willing
to sit back and do nothing, or to acc€pt any
IimitaLions thal are lmposFd whcdFrbymscu
or by others. Because ifyou had said to me in
1995 that eight years later I would see a human
being with a transected spinal cord walk again,
I would have said tlat you were cmzy and that
it was science fiction. And I have seen it. And
th€re's more to come, A lot more to come."
Then, almost as an afterthought, he tells me
something odd: 'Tou Imorv, I have never been
disabled in my dreams. I am not a psychologist
but I think that's a very healtly si$, and I t}inl
that at my very core I am a realistic optinist. "
His words trail ofiard he glarces into space
for a minute. That's when you h€ar it - the
rhrthmic muscular contraction of his diaphragm
being artificially expanded and denated by dre
implanted electr:ical devices in his chest wall.
For a second or two it fills the roomr and what
a resonance it is. It is the gently inspiring sound
ofscienc€ doing its best to catch up with the plans
ofone man's beautifi:I, unbroken spirit. I
Christmas Menu
f9 50
10 rse rpnaro vacrztr.rr zs.ro.or