Reeve was real-life 'Superman'

Although he will always be remembered for portraying "Superman," the greatest role of actor Christopher Reeve's life was as a champion of sufferers of spinal cord injuries(脊椎損傷患者中的斗士) and an advocate of stem cell research(干細胞研究).

Unlike the man of steel, he wasn't faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and he couldn't leap tall buildings in a single bound.

But the courage and determination Reeve displayed in trying to overcome his paralysis from a 1995 horse-riding accident far surpassed any of the feats of the comic book hero(連環畫英雄).

"He became a real-life Superman. His heroism, his courage was extraordinary," Colin Blakemore, the chief executive of Britain's Medical Research Council(英國醫學研究學會主任) said.

"Like many people who suffer some terrible injury, Christopher Reeve was reinvented(徹底改變) by that experience and brought the kind of energy and enthusiasm that made him successful as a film star to an entirely different issue, with huge effect."

Reeve, 52, died on October 10 of heart failure(心臟功能衰竭) after having treatment for an infected pressure wound(傷口嚴重感染) without realizing his dream of walking again.

But in the nine years since his accident, he made personal progress to regain some feeling(重新獲得了人們的尊敬和欣賞), established the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, a non-profit research organization, and used his fame to raise millions of dollars for research into spinal cord injuries.

He also provided hope and inspiration to other patients and lobbied for scientists to be allowed to conduct stem cell research in the hopes of eventually curing paralysis and other illnesses such as diabetes and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease(糖尿病、阿茲海默癥和巴金森氏癥).

"He has been our champion. If you think of spinal injuries you automatically conjure up(想起、回憶) a picture of Christopher Reeve," said Paul Smith, executive director of the Spinal Injuries Association in England.

It is because of Reeve that spinal cord injuries and stem cell research are so widely discussed, according to Smith. The fact that it happened to Reeve showed it can affect anyone, even Superman.

Reeve did not live long enough to see whether stem cell research could help restore movement to the paralyzed. The research is still in its early days and no one knows what advances it may bring.