New Christopher Reeve docu depicts how wife Dana helped him cope with paralysis by 'choosing hope'

17 September 2024, 12:12

The entire course of his life changed in an instant.

Christopher Reeve was a dashing actor known the world over for bringing a certain red-caped superhero to the big screen: Superman.

Sharing the screen alongside acting greats such as Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman, Reeve established himself as Hollywood's 'prince charming'.

Tragically, his own life away from the silver screen would be anything but a fairytale, after an accident that'd change everything.

Reeve was an avid horse rider, who frequently took part in dressage events as a hobby. That was until 27th May 1995, when he was thrown from his horse.

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The actor landed head first, shattering his first and second vertebrae, leaving him instantly paralysed.

A new documentary, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, will detail Reeve's cataclysmic accident and how he lived life as a quadriplegic in the spotlight.

Helmed by director Peter Ettedgui, it'll also focus on how his wife Dana helped him cope with his paralysis by "choosing hope".

Talking to People magazine, Ettedgui said he discovered the immense challenges he faced, Reeve powered through with positivity and shook off self-pity each and every day.

"He did allow himself fifteen to twenty minutes of pity a day, and that was it. Otherwise, it was like, there's not a single f**king minute in the day to waste.

"He'd be thinking, 'I'm sad,' but then you could almost see him calculating like, 'That's it. Now it's time to get on with it.'"

Ettedgui and Christopher Reeve's children Matt, Alexandra, and Will credit his wife and their mum Dana for being his rock throughout the life-altering incident and his paralysis from then onwards.

"My mom was maybe the most special person to ever grace this earth," says Will. "And it's a testament to her singular spirit that she lived every day by choosing hope.

"There was a relentless positivity that was not manufactured, it's just who she was. And it helped our family move forward.

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story | Official Trailer

"She was thrust into these unimaginable circumstances as a young woman," Will added, "and my parents often joked, ‘We’re really testing that “in sickness and in health” part of our vows.’"

Christopher tried his utmost to keep his spirits high throughout the ordeal, diving into charity work to raise money for research into spinal cord injuries with the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.

But the documentary doesn't gloss over the many difficult moments and dark times the Reeve family faced.

In one segment of archival footage, it shows Reeve in the wake of his paralysis diagnosis saying he wanted to die after learning he'd never walk again.

"I said, ‘Maybe we should let me go,'" Reeve says, revealing that Dana replied: "I am only going to say this once: I will support whatever you want to do because this is your life and your decision."

"But I want you to know that I’ll be with you for the long haul, no matter what. You’re still you. And I love you."

Those words and the commitment she showed to Christopher saved his life, and encouraged him to keep living.

He lived another ten years after the accident, with his wife Dana dying just seventeen months later with stage-4 lung cancer in a cruel twist, considering she was a non-smoker.

Their youngest son Will was orphaned at the age of just thirteen, saying that the "grief is permanent."

"I think the most important element of the grief process is healing, and you can find healing by honouring people you’ve lost in the way we live our lives.

"We learned how important the family unit, and the love within a family, is to living a fulfilling and meaningful life."