Off The Record
Christopher Reeve’s Son Lost Both Parents By The Age Of 13
There are many accounts of children that resembled their famous parents as adults.
Many famous people’s children look strikingly like their famous parents, such as Michael J. Fox’s identical twin daughters, Julia Roberts’s teenage daughter, and Elvis Presley’s grandson.
However, Christopher Reeve’s son Will, who is now 29 years old, is not only a physical clone of his famous father but also actively works to carry on his role model’s legacy.
Christopher Reeve’s youngest kid was only 13 when both of his parents passed away, a tragic loss for any child.
What does a hero look like?
Christopher Reeve personified what it meant to be a hero for millions of people in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
He won the award for Most Promising Male Newcomer at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1978 for his portrayal of Superman from DC Comics.
After the success of Superman, the attractive and charming actor went on to star in three more superhero films.
His name is forever linked to a well-known superhero.
Christopher Reeve, who was born in New York in 1952, was involved in many other fields outside acting.
Christopher Reeve accident
Christopher Reeve’s life was irrevocably altered on May 27, 1995.
The well-known actor hurt his back after he was thrown from his horse Buck at a competition in Culpeper, Virginia.
The Hollywood actor’s paralysis from the neck down and subsequent wheelchair confinement shocked his millions of fans and his family.
The actor’s organization claims that Christopher’s mom pleaded with doctors to turn off his life support so he could die.
The New York Times reported subsequently that the actor’s life would have been lost if he had fallen just one centimeter to the left.
If Christopher had fallen to the right instead, he would have only sustained a concussion at most.
When Christopher became a quadriplegic, he was just 42 years old. For the remainder of his life, he would need to use a wheelchair and a portable ventilator.
As soon as they saw what had happened, doctors pronounced there was little chance of recovery and told Reeve it was “impossible” for him to regain movement.
During his first several days in the hospital, Christopher Reeve was highly drugged and delusional as he endured a hellish ordeal.
He thought his life was over after hearing the doctor’s awful diagnosis.
He didn’t want to put undue strain on his loved ones, so he suggested to his wife, Dana Morosini, that they stop life support.
With tears in her eyes, she responded, ”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.”
Instead of giving up, Reeve and his dedicated wife Dana put their energy into action, founding the Christopher Reeve Foundation.
The organization’s name was changed to honor Christopher and Dana Reeve.
The pair also advocated on behalf of those with spinal cord injuries and for stem cell research through the Reeve-Irvine Research Center they established.
Christopher Reeve, like any good father would, wanted the best for his kid.
In a 2016 interview with PEOPLE, Will gushed over his “totally normal” upbringing.
“They were the people who told me to turn off the TV, to eat my broccoli, to go to bed,” Will lovingly recalled. “I understand that not every child experiences going to the grocery store and seeing their dad on the magazine at the checkout aisle, but … it was a totally normal childhood.”
Will also recalled the time his dad got him out of his wheelchair and taught him to ride a bike. “I didn’t believe it was gonna work. I’m terrified, but I have my dad’s voice behind me going, ‘Steady, steady, left, right, left, right,’” he said, adding, “By the third lap, I’m smiling, looking at my dad, waving, and he’s smiling. That meant so much to him. Later on, I would race in him the wheelchair. He’d let me win.”
Will’s father passed suddenly just as the family was beginning to put the pieces back together.
Christopher Reeve death
Even as a young child, Christopher Reeve dealt with a number of health issues. His breathing was hampered by asthma and allergy symptoms.
He began experiencing hair loss due to alopecia areata at the age of sixteen.
During his acting career, Christopher was able to keep the condition under control, but once he became disabled, he decided to chop off his hair.
Christopher went to the hospital multiple times in the early 2000s for various infections. In October of 2004, he was hospitalized with sepsis brought on by an infected pressure ulcer.
On October 9, Christopher was at his son Will’s hockey game when he had a heart attack after taking medication to treat an infection.
He had lapsed into a coma, and medical intervention was hopeless at this point.
On October 10, 2004, at the age of 52, actor Christopher Reeve passed away.
Reeve’s death, according to both Mrs. Dana and the doctors, was the result of a medication response.
His remains were scattered from over Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.
Wife’s death
Dana, Christopher’s widow and primary carer, was stricken with lung cancer just 10 months after his death.
However, Christopher P. Andersen claims that in the early stages of her career, Dana performed and sang in smoke-filled taverns and hotel lobbies.
American actress and singer Dana married British actor Christopher Reeve on April 11, 1992, in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
Dana, 44 at the time of her death on March 6, 2006, had been battling a malignant lung tumor for several months.
Will Reeve
On June 7, 1992, William Elliot “Will” Reeve was born to Christopher and Dana. Will was just 13 when he was abandoned by his family.
Will, who has grown up to look just like his father, has, up until this point, avoided the limelight.
After completing his education, Will is now enjoying great success in the sports journalism field.
Will, who is now 29 years old, bears an eerie likeness to his father and certainly acquired his excellent looks.
Of greater significance is the fact that this young man is carrying on the good work of his parents.
After experiencing such hardship at such a young age, Will could have gone downward or off the rails, but because to his parents’ strong direction and his own strength of character, he did not.
“There’s something my father used to say and which I use frequently today to not only honor his legacy, but to imbue a new generation with his timeless spirit: ‘A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles,’” he said in a Daily Mail article.
Will and his father had a passion for sports, and today he fulfills a promise to both of them by working as a contributor to ESPN’s SportsCenter.
While attending Middlebury College, he interned and worked as a production assistant at ‘Good Morning America,’ which led to his eventual employment there.
He carries on his parents’ legacy by assisting the foundation in its pursuit of new medicines and technological advances for people with spinal cord injuries.
Will discussed a letter he wrote to himself after the deaths of his parents in an interview with CBS News in 2018.
“I’ve got good news and bad news. I’ll start with the bad, because you always need to know exactly what’s going on, no matter what. That won’t change, by the way. The bad news is: You’re at the lowest point of your life. You’re in a hospital room in New York City, and you’ve just said your final goodbye to Mom,” he wrote. “You’re 13. She’s 44. Lung cancer. Never smoked. Gone, just like Dad, who died a year-and-a-half ago, which at the time was the lowest you had been. Now you’re at a new bottom and you’re terrified and confused and just so sad. But! Here’s the good news: this is the low point. There’s nowhere to go but up, and that’s exactly where you’re headed.”
Will Reeve is a very remarkable young man.
Despite losing both his parents at such a young age, he is continuing to remember them via his positive outlook and success.
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His parents would be incredibly proud of what he has accomplished so far. He is a true motivation.
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