Remembering The Reeves (page 2 of 3)

A Tragic Accident

A couple of months later, after Chris was transferred to a rehab center, Dana called me. "Chris wants you to come," she said. "Bring your cameras."

When I saw my friend, paralyzed, it took everything not to break down in front of him. It was difficult for Chris to talk then, but he made it clear that he wanted me to photograph him for a book he was planning. So I returned to his bedside many times.

Chris worried about the toll his condition would take on Dana. He told her, "It's not fair for me to put this burden on you." And she said, "You have love for me, I have the same feelings and love for you, and you're still you."

I think the only reason Chris didn't pull the plug on himself was because of Dana's love and her belief that they could make a life for themselves. When Chris got home, Dana became more than his wife and lover and the mother of his child. She was his nurse, his driver, his exercise therapist, his everything. She took care of him 24 hours a day, feeding him, helping him blow his nose, anything -- gladly, with such joy. And she maintained her sense of humor. One night, when we were having a barbecue at their house, Dana, grasping an ear of corn, announced, "Watch 'Jaws' in action!" She held the ear in front of Chris, and he went across it in two seconds! Once, while doing a shoot for a women's magazine, Dana threw her leg over him. "Let's get a little racy," she said.

I was an only child; my dad died when I was two. Watching Chris and Dana show Will how much they loved him often made me think, I wish I could have had parents like that. Chris would go to Will's hockey games, and that was an ordeal. They'd hook him up to all these machines, transport him in a specially equipped van, and Dana would bundle him up, because his body temperature couldn't go below a certain point. It was all worth it to Chris. When Will scored, Chris's face would look like one of those yellow smiley faces, magnified ten times.

Chris started the Christopher Reeve Foundation to find a cure for spinal cord injury, and it raised more than $65 million. He began his political fight to hasten stem-cell research in hopes of reversing paralysis, and traveled the world to learn about scientific advances.

He never gave up hope that he would walk again, even though he kept having setbacks. In the summer of 2004, while in New Orleans directing a TV film about a quadriplegic teen, Chris landed in the hospital. One of the pressure sores that he was so prone to had become infected and compromised his immune system. When he got out, he invited me to go to dinner. "It's such a beautiful night, let's just walk," he said.

Dana pushed Chris through the streets, and traffic stopped for him. People got out of their cars, shouted, "Welcome to New Orleans!" I never imagined it was the last time I'd see him and Dana together.

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• Christopher and Dana Reeve: Exclusive Photos
• View some special moments with the Reeves captured on camera.
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• Christopher Reeve: A Hero Onscreen and Off
• Just months before his untimely death and nearly a decade after his tragic accident, Christopher Reeve spoke one last time with Reader's Digest about his personal struggles, keeping up hope, and his frustrations with the current administration's opposition to stem cell research.
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• The Brooke Ellison Story
• A screech of brakes, a small body flying through the air -- and 11-year-old Brooke Ellison couldn't move or even breathe on her own. But the story was just beginning.
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• Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation
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“ Remember that the homes you visit during the holidays may not be childproofed. Keep an eye out for danger spots. ”

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