Reeve was real-life 'Superman'

克里斯托弗·里夫——永远的“超人”

导读：

据11日《娱乐在线》报道，美国著名电影《超人》的主演、好莱坞著名影星克里斯托夫-里夫于当地时间10月10日，因心力衰竭在纽约去世，享年52岁。

因为长年瘫痪在床，再加上患上并发症，在过去的一周里，里夫的病情日渐恶化，并开始昏迷不醒，在昨天晚上离世。 克里斯托弗·里夫为中国观众所熟悉的就是他主演的《超人》一片，那飞翔在蓝天、惩奸除恶的形象一直是无数影迷心中英雄的不二人选。虽然里夫在9年前的一次骑马比赛中摔伤颈椎，导致全身瘫痪，但是受伤后的他意志依然相当坚强，不仅转而担任导演，而且还在1998年时重返荧屏，参加了西区柯克的名作《后窗》一片的演出。

Although he will always be remembered for portraying¹ "Superman," the greatest role of actor Christopher Reeve's life was as a champion of sufferers of spinal² cord injuries(脊椎损伤患者中的斗士) and an advocate of stem cell research(干细胞研究).

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 paralysis³ from a 1995 horse-riding accident far surpassed any of the feats⁴ of the comic book hero(连环画英雄).

"He became a real-life Superman. His heroism⁵, his courage was extraordinary," Colin Blakemore, the chief executive of Britain's Medical Research Council(英国医学研究学会主任) said.

"Like many people who suffer some terrible injury, Christopher Reeve was reinvented(彻底改变) by that experience and brought the kind of energy and enthusiasm that made him successful as a film star to an entirely⁶ different issue, with huge effect."

Reeve, 52, died on October 10 of heart failure(心脏功能衰竭) after having treatment for an infected pressure wound(伤口严重感染) without realizing his dream of walking again.

But in the nine years since his accident, he made personal progress to regain⁷ some feeling(重新获得了人们的尊敬和欣赏), 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 diabetes⁸ and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease(糖尿病、阿兹海默症和巴金森氏症).

"He has been our champion. If you think of spinal injuries you automatically conjure⁹ up(想起、回忆) 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.