Christopher Reeve died.
Apparently an infection caused by a simple bed sore brought it on. Poor guy, after enduring so much, succumbing to a simple thing like that.
Combined with Brando’s death a few months ago, this ain’t been a good year for us Superman fans. 
Given the quality of that film, this is hardly a blow for Superman fans, but I do agree that Reeve’s death is sad. He did seem like a genuinely nice guy.
It was cheesy and cartoonish. That is, just what it was supposed to be. IMHO. 
You’ve found something else we can agree on, Desmo. Chris has always been a classy guy, both before and after his accident. His Superman role, as far as I’m concerned, contributed much to help ease the feelings of malaise that seemed to hang over the world like a fog at that time. People learned that it was okay to have heroes again. Here’s to you, Christopher Reeve. […tink…]
The first *Superman *was a pretty great film, and Reeves is one of the first names that will come up whenever I’m in a discussion about Performances the Academy Should Award Retroactively.
It is sad, and he did a lot for the handicapped and stem-cell research, but I’m amazed at how long they were able to keep him alive—quadriplegics fall prone to so many infections and ills.
And I have mixed emotions for his poor family—this has to be some kind of relief, in a horrible way.
Yeah, he did seem a nice guy. His only good film was “Deathtrap” though, that was kinda fun.
Obviously you never saw Noises Off, which while not as good as the stage version, was a good movie.
Hey, I was in that!
(OK, I was only an extra in two scenes, but . . . )
From http://www.sci-info-pages.com/facts.html:
Being quadriplegic isn’t an instant death sentence. My best friend, Kenny, is a quadriplegic, injured in a skiing accident last February. He is currently confined to bed, due to a pressure wound similar to what led to Reeve’s death. This story affects me on a very personal level, and I am worried sick for Kenny, because up until this point I had not considered how serious such a wound could be.
Reeve’s story is one of hope. To imply that his death was in any way a sort of relief for those that loved him is cruel. Quadriplegics can lead happy, fulfilling lives, and can still contribute much to the lives of their families, and to society as a whole. Reeve is proof of that. Yes, taking care of a quad is demanding, but it’s not the horrible life sentence you seem to think. I would gladly step up and take on the responsibility, were Kenny to live closer to me. Hell, all he’d have to do is say the word, and I’d move to be with him without hesitation.
Eve, I love you, and maybe I took this one a bit too personally for obvious reasons, but it was wrong.
Sympathizing for the suffering of his family is wrong? OK, I won’t ever make that mistake again.
I didn’t take it as sympathy. Saying someone’s death is a relief, to me at least, does not indicate sympathy. If that was your intent, and I took it out of context, my apologies. I’m a bit frazzled today.
Hey, I remember you in that!
Well … OK, I don’t, but I’d like to believe that I remember you in that. Self-implanting memories … NOW.
No prob, dear. [kisses]
You folks want sympathetic? Real statement during a conversation about Reeve a couple months back:
Wife: I’m not surprised he had that accident. He was a lousy rider. Barely in control of the horse at all. The only thing that saved his neck before this was that he could afford a horse that needed minimal direction.
The woman is a saint. :rolleye: And you people think I am sometimes not as sympathetic as I could be?
I’m sorry, this is hopelessly naive. People can miss someone but still feel relieved of a great burden. Human nature is not sitting on a setr of scales- conflicting emotions are natural.
My father in law in paralyzed from the nipples down since 1991.
He has had a bed sore on his butt, despite meticulous care by him and my MIL.
For two years he has gone back to this doctor and received, " Ohhh, it’s looking fine…looking better."
It wasn’t looking better. It didn’t look fine. According to Mr. Ujest it looked like my FIL had a second asshole on his cheek.
Phone calls were made and my FIL got into a Trauma wound specialist ( I think that is the title)
They operated the next day. The next freaking day.
He was in and out of the hospital for the better part of five weeks because he had a bone infection and had sudden onsets of high fevers and delusional blabbering and had to go in to get it operated on again and have the surgeons scrape his bone.
If the man could feel anything, he would have screamed in pain during recovery and was sent home that afternoon on either muscle relaxors or pain killers ( dunno, not my department.)
I beleive the number one cause of death in paraplegics and quads is uriary tract infections. (Ask me about the time in April when after all these years of cathing himself my husband was looking at the urine his dad was putting out and asked him, " is it suppose to be the color of copper?" Couple days later it was milky in color. He had a UTI because of the scar tissue build up sealed off his urethra. Had he had feeling he would have been in tears weeks earlier.)
Shirley, would it be okay to IM/Email you? I’ve got a lot of questions about day to day life, resources, etc, and not a whole lot of answers. I have a feeling this guy and I are heading toward the whole lifelong commitment thing, but haven’t really known anyone else in this situation, and it sure is new territory for both of us. If there’s anything you’d be willing to share, or resources you could point me toward, it would be greatly appreciated.