Matthew, Alexandra, and William Reeve are Christopher Reeve’s children, and they are the ones who have carried on his legacy via the work of his foundation. Despite the fact that Christopher would spend the last ten years of his life handicapped, he tried all in his power to bring up his children in a typical manner. As a parent, he motivated his children to have a positive attitude in spite of the difficult circumstances they were facing by his example.

Before Christopher Reeve met the love of his life in the woman who would remain his wife until his passing, Dana Reeve, he was previously in a devoted relationship with the British modeling executive Gae Exton.

Matthew and Alexandra are Christopher and Gae’s two children from their union as parents. While they separated in 1987, the two people stayed on friendly terms after the breakup.

After waiting for another five years, Christopher finally tied the knot with the woman who would become his wife, Dana. The year was 1987 when Christopher and Dana first crossed paths at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Dana, who is also a singer, took part in a cabaret act and wowed Christopher, who is just a young man, with her performance of “The Music That Makes Me Dance.”

Since the first time he saw her was such an amazing and unique experience, he recalled the clothes that she was wearing. Christopher didn’t spend any time in getting to know Dana and their relationship. On the other hand, she maintained her skepticism and steadfastly refused to rush into falling in love with a Hollywood star.

After 10 days of beautiful interactions, Christopher extended an invitation to Dana for a midnight swim. She had an assumption that he would request that she strip naked and jump into the pond, but he turned out to be more conventional than she had anticipated. It was his intention to swim while wearing bikinis. Dana was able to recall:

“It struck me as really endearing. That evening, we had our very first kiss.”

Since that fateful day, the two have been inseparable. Christopher was a devoted admirer who would show his interest in Dana by giving her wildflowers or attending her performances. Dana was swayed by the actor’s sensitivity despite the fact that his gestures were nothing out of the ordinary.

When some time had passed, she had the epiphany that Christopher, despite his famous position, was really simply an everyday, relaxed, and grounded person who she was fortunate to have in her life. She said that she had come to the conclusion that he was more than simply a movie star. “I discovered that he was somewhat similar to myself.”

After the wedding, the pair had a happy life together as a married couple. In point of fact, Christopher would proclaim, “Gosh, I adore being married,” on a daily basis during their first year together as husband and wife. Moreover, the couple delighted in the role of parents to their lone child, William Reeve.

Despite his success, Christopher never lost touch with reality, which made him a genuine hero to his offspring. Alexandra, his daughter, recalls the Hollywood celebrity embracing his followers at the park, particularly the youngsters who looked up to him.

The doting father was also an adventure seeker who liked a variety of hobbies including scuba diving, skiing, and sailing, amongst others. He was a pilot who flew solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and he sometimes had his son Matthew ride shotgun with him in the cockpit. In his recollection,

“We eventually reached the point where we would [make] certain approaches – nothing more. You and your companion are alone. You’ve climbed up to an altitude of 10,000, 12,000, or 15,000 feet. You are consuming time in some way.”

Things took a turn for the worse when Christopher was involved in a riding accident that left him crippled. His health required the dynamics of his family to change, and although they did struggle at times, overall they were able to find joy in their lives together.

As the years went by, the Reeve children learned that a family is more than just a collection of blood relations. Despite the fact that activities had played a large role in their life, they were able to maintain a sense of belonging to one another as a family by loving one another, supporting one another, and making beautiful memories together. Alexandra said that it was not necessary to have a certain level of physical ability for that.

Despite the severity of his illness, Christopher Reeve never stopped being a wonderful father.
Christopher took part in an equestrian competition on May 27, 1995, but he was thrown from his horse and had a damage to his spinal cord as a result. He went through the barrier with his head first and was promptly taken to the hospital after the incident.

Alexandra was just 11 years old when the disaster occurred, and she and her mother and brother were living in England at the time. They received the phone call in the middle of the night, and within a few short hours, they were on their way to see their father in their hometown.

She recalls their immediate and extended family gathering together and camping out in front of the intensive care unit. The days quickly went into months, but their family remained together and provided their cherished father with assistance in the hospital throughout this time.

Regrettably, the physicians no longer hold out any hope that the patient would recover from the accident. Christopher, who was 42 at the time, was rendered paraplegic from the neck down. Because of his illness, it seemed certain that he would spend the rest of his life confined to a wheelchair.

At one point, the actor’s mother pleaded with the medical staff at the hospital to take her son off of the artificial ventilation that he was receiving. He gave some thought to terminating his life, but ultimately decided against it. His family and friends showered him with an unbelievable amount of love and support, which ultimately persuaded him to reconsider his mind.

Christopher and his family would take the time to read letters and get well cards that were sent to them from children in other countries. They would also send hand-drawn images, encouraging emails, and get well soon cards. They would make an effort to respond to each one, expressing gratitude and assuring the sender that things will work out for the best.

Shortly after, the well-known actor summoned the resolve to find out all there was to know about his illness and make every effort to improve for the sake of his family. As Alexandra reflected on it:

“As children, he exerted a great deal of effort to ensure that we continued to have relatively normal lives […]. After the accident that my father was in, he made certain that our daily rituals would not change.”

Her father’s custom on Christmas Day was to wake up at 4 a.m. and be in the living room by 7 a.m., which was the time when Alexandra’s younger brother would come downstairs. This is one of the things that she will never forget, and it is one of the things that she will always remember.

As Alexandra looked back, she realized that her father made an attempt, despite his paralysis, to continue the same holiday customs as before. He made an effort to participate in his children’s life whenever and whenever he could.

Christopher attended William’s last hockey game, which was played the day before he passed away. He made it a point to be there for the majority of Williams’ sporting activities on a regular basis.

When the catastrophe took place, William had only just turned two years old. He recalled how his father did not allow their medical condition define who they were. Christopher, like any other father, looked after his children and celebrated important life moments with them.

In order for William to learn how to ride a bike without making any bodily motions, Christopher was William’s instructor. It was enough for the attentive father to train the little youngster on proper movement technique.

He has many fond memories of his childhood, but one of his favorites is running and playing in their driveway as his parents watched. If William had recounted the narrative of his youth, others would not have assumed that he had a parent with a disability since that is not how it seemed to them.

Dana, Christopher’s wife, was also confronted with a number of difficulties as a result of her husband’s paralysis. Despite this, she loved him and was concerned about him up to the very end.

She kept her part of the bargain, regardless of whether or not she was feeling well. Yet, she had a request about a particular provision of their marriage vow. In her words:

“I committed to loving, respecting, and cherishing him until the day we both pass away. Yet, I cannot go through with it since I will always respect, honor, and appreciate him.”

Christopher, in addition to being the greatest father and husband he could be, became a champion for those living with paralysis and a beacon of hope to others who were going through the same thing.

In 1999, he and his wife Dana Reeve formed the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation in conjunction with the American Paralysis Association. Research towards a treatment for spinal cord injury was supposed to be their organization’s end aim. In addition, it attempted to assist those who suffered from paralysis and spread awareness.

Christopher’s optimism that he might discover a treatment for his illness never faded. He read up on the latest science to get himself ready for the day when his paralysis might improve, and he even had a physical therapist and a nurse assist him when he cycled.

Because to his training routine, the actor from “Rear Window” “regained a little bit of mobility,” as said by Matthew, the actor’s son. He was only able to move his fingers and his arms and legs very minimally. Christopher gained a reputation as a superhero among a growing number of people as a result of his dogged pursuit of achieving previously impossible goals.

In 2004, Christopher died suddenly after a heart attack that left him in a coma for some time. Later on, he had a heart collapse and abandoned his wife and children.

While William was just 11 years old when his father went away, Christopher will always be remembered fondly by William. His siblings also cherish recollections of their late father, such as the way he would come into their room, switch on the lights, and laugh with them. These are some of the memories they hang on to.

Following in her husband’s footsteps, Dana Reeve passed away from lung cancer seventeen months after he had done so. Cancer was discovered in Dana, a non-smoker, 10 months after her husband passed away from the disease. At that moment, she had the strongest sense that Christopher was there with her.

She expressed her admiration for him by saying, “As always, I look to him as the greatest example of beating the odds with strength, fortitude, and optimism in the face of life’s difficulties.” Dana found that drawing strength from the bravery of her spouse helped fire her own.

Before she passed away, Dana made preparations for her son William to live with a good friend of theirs who was also very close to them. Even though William had brothers who were willing and able to take care of him, she wanted him to remain in New York with the people he had known since childhood.

When William was at his lowest point in life, he was terrified, bewildered, and depressed all at the same time. Yet he was aware that there was no other way to go except to continue ahead, and so he did just that.

With the passing of their parent, the Reeve children found comfort in one another.
Following their father’s passing, Christopher’s children have gathered more than once to commemorate the life and career of their late father. They often advocated his foundation, despite the fact that none of them followed in his footsteps as an entertainer.

In 2013, the three siblings supported their parents’ organization by attending a banquet in their honor. They spoke to friends and supporters of their parents, such as Christopher’s old co-star Glenn Close, who was one of the people they spoke to. William said:

I believe that the fact that the three of us devote a significant amount of our time and energy to the Reeve Foundation is the thing that would make my parents the most proud of all of us.

Yet, the Reeves siblings made sure to set aside time to concentrate on their own professional development and health, just as their parents would have desired.

William spent his formative years working as a reporter for ABC News. He is quite happy in his relationship with Lexi Henkel, who is an investor at Maverick Ventures and graduated from Yale.

William is an athletic guy who has trained to run, much as his younger self was when his father was younger. In 2016, he ran the New York City Marathon as part of a fundraising effort for the organization that his parents founded. He became one of around fifty other runners that were members of Team Reeve. They had a goal of raising $500,000 for the organization, but his goal was just $30,000 of that total.

Although though Christopher was only able to spend a brief amount of time with William, he was able to teach his son valuable lessons that William has kept with him throughout his life. William determined early on in childhood that he would follow in his father’s footsteps. Because of Christopher’s legacy and the impression he had on so many people, William was given the opportunity to travel and meet people who admired his parents.

He has filed reports from a variety of locations, such as Italy, Tennessee, Iceland, Arizona, Maine, and many more states and countries. William took one item that belonged to each of his parents with him on each of his journeys.

Matthew and Alexandra are both contributing significantly to the management of the foundation in their own ways. In 2007, Matthew, a producer and director who is very resemblant to his late father, finished “Hope in Motion,” a documentary that was centered on the journey his father had while coping with paralysis.

Alexandra chose a career in law and teaching adjunct classes while her brothers followed careers related to cinema and entertainment. In addition to that, she was elected to her father’s organization’s Board of Directors. In the year 2020, she was promoted to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer at the Center for Democracy & Technology.

In spite of the fact that their parents passed away while they were young, the Reeves children developed into healthy adults. Christopher is filled with pride and happiness as a result of the three of them pursuing tremendous heights.

By Elen

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