Just a  Centimetre

Watching Superman

I watched Superman 1 and 2 with my elder brother in the early 80s. I was so desperate to watch the films that I made a big hue and cry at home and pestered my brother to take me along. I am thankful to him that he did. I didn’t read the Superman Comics but was absolutely enthralled by Superman, the super hero from Krypton and in particular the Part 2 of the Superman series was the one that captivated me the most. As millions across the world I too became a fan of Christopher Reeve, who breathed life into Superman and though in those days information was not that easy to get, I did read about Christopher Reeve whenever I came across something about the star actor.

Christopher Reeve a huge success

Christopher Reeve, all of 6’4” with a chiselled jaw line was an extremely good looking man and before he landed the role of Superman he was already an established theatre actor with several stage plays under his belt. His acting potential was never in doubt and so he proved. The role of Superman coupled with the role of Clark Kent was seamlessly essayed by Christopher Reeve. The Film was a blockbuster  with the Part  2 bettering the first. Even the critics praised Christopher’s performance which led to a BAFTA award for the actor. Christopher Reeve had arrived. He was a big star and such was his imprint on the character of Superman, that none of the actors who played Superman later were able to match the benchmarks laid down by Christopher.

The Buck stops in his tracks

But what  is the Centimetre, the title of the blog to do with Christopher Reeve, is the question you would ask. The relation of a centimetre to the Superman is rather critical and affected him so dramatically that the world of Christopher Reeve was shaken to the core. 27th May 1995, was the day, when Christopher, an excellent horse rider was participating in an equestrian event( which he normally did) in a small town of Culpeper, Virginia. Christopher riding his thoroughbred nicknamed Buck approached a triple pole barrier jump, however Buck surprisingly stopped in his tracks. The momentum propelled Christopher off the saddle and he landed head first on the barrier.

The impact had caused major damage to the spine and once a Superman, Christopher was rendered paralysed neck down and on a wheelchair for life. Later it was revealed that if the impact of the fall had been a centimetre to the left Christopher would have died and if the impact had happened a centimetre to the right he would have walked away with just a concussion. That one centimetre could have  made all the difference. The injuries were so severe, that Christopher’s mother begged the doctors to take away the ventilator and let her son pass away. Even the Superman had a similar view.

‘ Still Me ‘

However, a phrase from Dana, his wife “ You’re still you. And I love you”,  made Christopher Reeve seek life and he hung  on to it. He published his  memoir ‘ Still Me ‘, in 1998, which remained on the Best Sellers List  for 11 weeks and even won a Grammy for its spoken version. Christopher Reeve became an inspiration for people with similar disabilities as he championed their cause through his charity work. His Foundation raised several millions to support research on spinal injury ailments and helped several thousands live a better life. It would be fair to say that as much as he was remembered for his iconic role as Superman, Christopher Reeve will be remembered for his social activism through his  Charity and Foundations.

A few lessons learnt

Aged 52, Krypton’s battled hardened Hero, the Superman in reel and real life  breathed his last on 10th of October 2004, in New York. My research on the great Christopher Reeve left  behind a slew  of emotions. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from his life. Destiny could be so fickle, is a harsh reality. We just cannot take anything for granted. No one knows what lies ahead and therefore it is so very important that we thank the Almighty everyday for keeping all our faculties running smoothly. Every morning is a fresh lease of life and a new opportunity, for which we should be extremely thankful at all times.

And not to forget…sometimes  even a centimetre is of great value.