Hello fellow Ciao reviewers in the community. I have chosen to write a slightly different review today. It is to commemorate the life of a man who inspired and touched me as well as other members of my family.

My tribute is to Christopher Reeve.

Christopher Reeve was born on 25 September 1952 in New York City. His mother (Barbara Johnson) and father (Franklin Reeve) divorced when Christopher and his brother Ben were four years old, and his mother took them away from New York to New Jersey.

Christopher's love of acting shone through from an early age, when joining as many school clubs and after school committments as possible at Princeton Day School.

After graduating high school, Reeve toured the country and attended the Cornell University where he majored in English and Music Theory. Reeve appeared in theatres such as the Boothbay (Maine) Playhouse, the Williamstown Theatre, the San Diego Shakespeare Festival, and the Loeb Drama Center.

Towards the end of his last year at Cornell, Reeve along with Robin Williams was accepted into the Julliard School of Performing Arts under his mentor John Houseman. However, Reeve was forced to abandon his last year in Julliard for the opportunity of working with Katherine Hepburn in "A Matter of Gravity" in 1976.

In 1978 Reeve auditioned for the part that would make him famous for the rest of his life. Superman. Reeve won the hearts of the audiences watching Superman by playing him with compassion and a gentle heart. His 6 foot 4 frame made him an ideal candidate for the movie and the sequels.

In all Reeve appeared over a dozen TV films, 17 feature films and over 150 plays.

Reeve was also a political activist, starting from when he was in high school. A liberal democrat, he protested against the Vietnam War and just before his injury, Reeve was involved in several liberal charities such as Amnesty International and Save the Children. Reeve supported charities that were close to his heart and which all weighed equally on his heart.

Among all of this, Reeve had several interests. Having piano lessons from such an early age, meant he carried it on for many years. In an interview, Reeve said that if it he didn't have such a drive for being an actor he would have been a professional musician. Reeve's other interests included athletics and he attained a pilot's licence in the mid 70's. But by the 90's rolled around, Christophers passion became horse riding.

Unfortunately, it was Reeve's passion for horse riding that led him to his accident. At a show jumping competition in 1995, Reeve's horse failed to go over a hurdle and stopped rather abrupty. As Reeve was still holding onto the reins of the horse, the force bucked him off the horse and he landed on his head, immediately fracturing the vertebrae in his spine and instantly paralyzing him from the neck down. Paramedics did not have time to take him to the hospital and some quick medical treatment in a tent at the grounds, saved his life. He was unconcious and not breathing, but he was alive. Later on, Reeve underwent surgery to in effect, reattach his head to his spine.

Reeve spent 6 months in a rehabilitation centre trying to recover. He then returned home to a whole new house and life and to the warmth and support of his family. His was fragile, depending on everyone for his daily basic needs. Reeve was now in danger of contracting specific illnesses and infections due to his paralysis.

It was after his accident, that Reeve decided to commit his life to increasing awareness of paralysis and finding a cure for people who suffered from all spinal chord injury related problems. It was this action that made him a hero in peoples eyes and his courage at living as normal life as he could inspired millions. Over the years, Reeve gained some of the feeling in his index fingers back and after a little more time, began to feel something when his children and wife hugged him. It was this progress that made Reeve say the words "I will walk again."

Reeve wrote his autobiography "Still Me" and it was published by Random House in April of 1998. It spent over 10 weeks on the New York Bestseller List, and Reeve also recorded the whole book on tape. In 1999, Reeve appeared in his first film since being paralyzed called "Rear Window" which won him many awards.

Reeve also became interested in directing, doing TV commercials with Ray Romano, films and television programmes.

Reeve became Chairman of his own foundation in 1999 - Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation (CRPD), which is committed to finding a cure for paralysis suffers. Part of Reeve's drive, was ensuring that the public was aware of the facts of diability and what could be done to make someones life better. Due to his efforts, Reeve recieved several awards for his services in pulbic awareness of paralysis.

After completing several more projects, Christopher Reeve's final project was directing a television movie called The Brooke Ellison Story. It will air on the 25 October and is based on a book. The story tells of Brooke Ellison who became a quadriplegic at age 11 but with determination and the support of her family, Ellison rose above her disability and went on to graduate from Harvard University. The film stars Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Lacey Chabert and John Slattery.

Sadly, the life of this remarkable man was to end late at night on October 9th 2004. At the age of 52, Reeve died after going into a coma. He was being treated for a pressure wound that he developed, a common complication for people with paralysis. In the week leading up to his death, the wound had become severely infected, resulting in a serious systemic infection.

Reeve now leaves behind his mother, father, brother, wife Dana and three children Will (12), Matthew (21) and Alexandra (25).

Thousands of donations and messages of condolence have been left on the CRPD website.

I have included several paragraphs from a statement made by Reeve's wife Dana.

"Nine days ago my husband, Christopher Reeve, died. It was said he died of heart failure. I know this is technically, medically accurate -- that, due to a bombardment of infection brought on by the all-too-common secondary conditions of paralysis, the valves and muscles which made up that vital organ in his body ceased. But "heart failure" doesn't seem like the right description. For no one had a stronger, bigger, fuller, more resilient heart than he. That heart could not fail. That heart had too much to live for. Luckily for all of us, as grace would have it, that heart had strength and hope and love to spare.

A little less than a decade ago Chris made a decision to choose life. The life he chose was one of hardship, compromise, and daily challenges. But it was also a life filled with tremendous gifts: love, genuine satisfaction, and deep meaning. These nine and a half years for our family have been blessed with joy, laughter, and lessons learned. Chris gave us all a precious gift by living the life he did and despite the inherent difficulties of living with disability and illness on an ongoing basis -- or even, perhaps, because of the very nature of this life -- our family has remained happy, intact, focused, and deeply connected. There is no reason to believe we won't continue to be inspired by all that Chris brought to us. His impact on people living with disabilities, his fight for increases in funding and attention paid to biomedical research, the films he directed and starred in, and the three extraordinary children he helped raise -- these accomplishments will be his legacy. It is now my job to continue this legacy.

On Saturday, October 9th, Chris spent his last day of consciousness doing what he loved to do. He left a long phone message for Senator John Kerry lending his support and encouragement; he attended one of Will's hockey games, cheering as they won a huge victory, bursting with pride as Will was presented with the game puck for his outstanding playing that day. He and I spent the early evening on the phone and then he watched the Yankee game with Will and gobbled up one of his favorite meals, turkey tettrazini. His two grown children had just recently visited -- as they often do -- and we discussed in our phone conversation how great it was to have all of us together for his birthday two weeks before. Although he mentioned that his decubitus wounds were pretty bad and that he'd probably have to stay in bed the next day, he was not complaining -- his comments were, as usual, more of an observation than a complaint. He was excited about the upcoming release of his movie, The Brooke Ellison Story and very charged up about a recent visit to the Rehab Institute of Chicago where he had observed the Lokomat, a remarkable piece of automated locomotion therapy equipment used in a program we had funded through the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation.

Late that night, weakened by infection and the barrage of maladies which can accompany paralysis, his body failed him. At only 52, it was far too soon. There was much he still wanted to accomplish. There was much his children had yet to learn from him. It is completely unfair, but life can be that way. So, what do we do now? I look to Chris. When he was faced with grief and loss and feelings of injustice -- the feelings we are all experiencing now -- what did he do? He made a decision to carry on, to fight for his beliefs, to do for others what he couldn't do for himself. He reached into that enormous and beautiful and generous heart of his and gave us his life. We can at the very least try to do the same. We owe him that much.

With warm thanks,

Dana Reeve"

Christopher Reeve is one of my hero's for his bravery and courage in the face of his disability. He was a great source of inspiration for my friend, a girl who suffers from a paralysis injury. She has looked towards Christopher for encouragement and hope, and one day hopes to walk again, just as he promised he would.

I hope with this tribute, it gives you an insight into his life.

Happy trails kids!

Leila :) xx