Christopher Reeve was an actor and activist who became paralyzed from the neck down following a horse-riding accident in Culpeper, Virginia on May 27, 1995. The accident broke his neck, destroyed his first and second cervical vertebrae, and damaged his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down and unable to breathe without a ventilator. After five days in a delirious state, Reeve regained full consciousness and was informed of his condition. Despite the intense grief he experienced in the aftermath of the accident, Reeve resolved to make the best of his new life, with a busy schedule of activism, film work, writing and promoting his books, public speaking, and parenting.
Christopher Reeve died on October 10, 2004, at the age of 52 from cardiac arrest. No official autopsy was performed on the actor, but both Reeves wife Dana and his doctor John McDonald believed that an adverse reaction to a drug caused Reeve's death.
