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Somewhere in Heaven The Remarkable Love Story of Dana and Christopher Reeve

Read this web-exclusive book review by Carmela Ciuraru

Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Just three years later came the transforming event of Reeve’s life: a horseback-riding accident that left him paralyzed and wanting to die. (“It was roughly equivalent to the spinal injury suffered when someone is hanged,” Andersen writes.) The Superman actor’s early life, despite a dysfunctional family, had been one of wealth and privilege; now the handsome six-foot-four actor was a quadriplegic, dependent on a respirator to breathe. Dana not only helped him live, against all odds, for nine more years, but the couple became activist partners for stem-cell research. They also created the [now known as the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation], devoted to finding treatments for spinal cord injuries and improving the quality of life for people with disabilities. Whenever Reeve was inconsolable, Dana would reassure him; when his physical condition worsened, his wife’s efforts to make him more comfortable were tireless. His courage and resilience fueled her energy as well. Together they faced his disability, and together they attacked it as an enemy to be conquered. Dana resisted the media's relentless impulse to portray her as a saint. “I am just a woman whose husband fell off a horse, and I’m going to take care of him,” she said. for AARP The Magazine Online. More on entertainment AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS