Google doodle honors Christopher Reeve on “Superman” actor’s birthday

[ad_1]

By Theresa Waldrop, CNN

Saturday’s Google Doodle pays homage to Christopher Reeve, the “Superman” actor who became a disabled activist, on what would have been his 69th birthday.

Reeve was paralyzed from the neck down in a horseback riding accident in 1995 and spent the rest of his life lobbying for disabled rights and supporting spinal cord injury research.

“While the world first knew him for his starring role in the 1978 film Superman, it was his courage and humanity after the accident that left him paralyzed that touched so many people throughout. the world, “Reeve’s family said in a Google statement.

His efforts included promoting spinal cord research and supporting the improvement of insurance coverage and payments for the disabled.

The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation has given out “millions in individual grants,” according to Google, and Reeve has served on the boards of other organizations that have helped people with disabilities.

It was Reeve’s wife Dana who gave the actor the will to persevere after his accident, according to a bio on the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation website.

“When Dana whispered those lifesaving words to me, ‘It’s still you. And I love you ‘, to me it meant more than just a personal declaration of faith and commitment, “Reeve would say.” In a way it was an affirmation that marriage and family were at the center of it all, and that both were intact. , your universe was too “.

And it was seeing others struggling with their disabilities alongside him in rehab that was the drive to use his fame to defend them, Reeve once said.

“I felt I had to do something, not just for myself but for everyone else in the same condition,” wrote Reeve. “Even if I had wanted to (which I didn’t), I could never forget the other patients I had met in rehabilitation. I had seen too much of their struggles and their pain. I couldn’t go home, dedicate my life to myself and my family and ignore the bigger picture. “

In his autobiography, “Still Me,” Reeve wrote that people often asked him what a hero was, and Reeve replied that he is someone who does something brave without thinking about the consequences.

“Now my definition is completely different,” Reeve wrote. “I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and resist despite overwhelming obstacles.”

“Happy birthday, Christopher Reeve, who remains a hero to many both on and off the screen!” Google wrote in its tribute.

The-CNN-Wire ™ and © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia company. All rights reserved.

[ad_2]