Christopher Reeve Was Paralyzed at an Equestrian Competition 29 Years Ago: Read PEOPLE's 1995 Cover Story

Monday, May 27, marks 29 years since Christopher Reeve’s devastating equestrian accident left him paralyzed, nine years before his death at the age of 52.

Born in New York, the actor rose to fame with the role of the titular Man of Steel in 1978. Superman, and became known during his lifetime perhaps as much for his activism efforts as for the rich film career he had built before the accident.

Reeve is the subject of a 2024 documentary titled Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Storywhich had its world premiere earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival and included a screening that left most of the audience in tears.

“This year, in October, will be the 20th anniversary of Dad’s passing,” Reeve’s oldest child, Matthew Reeve, said during a Q&A after the screening, about why it felt like the right time to make the film.

“Everything came together really organically,” he added in part.

Read on for an excerpt PEOPLECover story on Reeve’s accident, dated June 12, 1995.

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Christopher Reeve and wife Dana Morosini on 20/20 September 29, 1995

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For Christopher Reeve, all that was apparently needed for disaster was a slight change in weight.

The actor and the Eastern Express galloped gently toward the three-foot high zig-zag jump, the third of 15 jumps they had to cover on the two-mile course.

“He was in the middle of the pack at the stoplight and he was pretty excited about it,” said Lisa Reid, 42, a 24-year horse trainer who first met Reeve a year ago and witnessed his ride on May 27. “The horse entered the fence nicely. The rhythm was good and Chris was good, and they were going at a good pace.”

But then, says Reid, that seamless synergy between horse and rider suddenly fell apart, and devastatingly.

“The horse put its front legs over the fence, but its hind legs didn’t come off the ground,” she says. “Chris is such a big man. He went forward, his head over the top of the horse’s head. He devoted his upper body to the jump. But the horse—whether he was scared or felt Chris’ weight over his head, I don’t know. But the horse decided, ‘No I can do it.’ And he retreated in a jump.”

Christopher Reeve on horseback before the accident, May 1995.

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But Reeve kept moving, lunging forward over the horse’s neck. It seemed to Reid that Reeve hit the fence head first and then fell onto the lawn on his forehead. “He was unconscious when I got there. He wasn’t moving, he wasn’t breathing,” said Helmut Boehme, the organizer of the horse trial. It seemed to Boehme that “the life had gone out of him.” The fall, Reeve’s doctors say, caused multiple fractures to the first and second cervical vertebrae in his spine, the ones closest to the skull — a severe injury that left the actor paralyzed, unable to use any of his limbs or even breathe without the aid of a respirator. As of last Wednesday, doctors speaking at a news conference at the hospital declined to comment on the extent of the damage to Reeve’s spinal cord or whether the paralysis was permanent.

“Christopher Reeve remains in serious but stable condition,” said Dr. John Jane, a neurosurgeon at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, some 45 miles from the equestrian field, where Reeve was airlifted less than an hour after Medical personnel resuscitated him on horseback and stabilized his pulse at Culpeper Local Hospital. One employee says, “They’re praying for a miracle.” Members of Reeve’s extended family, of three years, Dana Morosini, 34, and their son, Will, kept vigil. u As well as the woman with whom Reeve lived for most of the 80s, British advertising agent Gae Exton, 43, and their two children, Matthew, 16, and Alexandra, 12.

“We don’t know what’s in store for us,” Reeve’s brother Benjamin, 41, a lawyer, said at a news conference last Wednesday. “It means everything to Christopher and his family to have all your thoughts [and] good wishes.”

Christopher Reeve and family in New York at a benefit for the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation.

KMazur/WireImage

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The tragedy is further magnified by its time. Reeve was going through one of life’s transitional periods, deftly evolving from the attractive, carefree guy who made a name for himself in four Superman films into a more experienced performer, devoted family man and passionate political activist. It’s a distinction Reeve has embraced.

“One thing about acting is that as you change, so does what’s open to you. You’re constantly dealt new cards,” he said recently. “I enjoy getting older. Older faces are more interesting — especially my face, which was a little bland when I was younger.” Reeve has come to terms with what he recognizes as a near-disastrous early boom in his career. studied acting – and roomed with classmate Robin Williams – Reeve rocketed to stardom overnight when he was chosen out of 200 applicants in 1977 to star in Superman. It eventually spawned three sequels that, along with the original, grossed nearly a billion dollars worldwide.

“I don’t think I was ready [sudden fame]Reeve said. “That can happen in this business, where opportunity and your development don’t go together, especially if you hit it big early.”

Enter Christopher Reeve Superman IV (1987).

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A founder of the Creative Coalition — an advocacy group of artists including Ron Silver, Glenn Close and Susan Sarandon whose concerns range from homelessness to the environment — Reeve helped Vice President Al Gore clean up a New Jersey beach in 1993 and traveled to Chile in 1987 to speak on behalf of writers who were imprisoned for their political beliefs. Last February, Reeve testified before a Senate committee, arguing against a Republican proposal to defund the National Endowment for the Arts. Reeve came through his injury doing something he loved: sports. As an energetic player, he skied, skated and played energetic tennis. Reeve’s version of the party after shooting the first one Superman he was the skipper of a sailboat from Connecticut to Bermuda. For years, until he sold his $300,000 turboprop in 1991, he often flew solo across the Atlantic. In 1984, he was injured in a parasailing accident off Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

Although he’s always pushing himself — and sometimes others — to squeeze as much human experience out of life as possible, Reeve has recently made some concessions to the passing of time. When he was recently asked about the prospects for the top five Superman meal, Reeve looked at his torso and laughed.

“I’m in pretty good shape,” he said. “But I guess people don’t want to see Superman with a spare tire hanging over his yellow belt.”

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For now, Reeve’s grieving family, friends and colleagues can only wait and hope. Many who worked with him on Broadway or in films – including Katharine Hepburn, Jane Seymour and Margot Kidder – went public with their condolences and prayers.

Director Robert Halmi Sr., 71, recalled working with Reeve 18 months ago on the upcoming CBS miniseries, Black Foxfor which Reeve, playing a cowboy, was in the saddle for days.

“He was so in control,” says Halmi. “He performed all his own stunts. That’s why it’s hard to believe his accident. It’s too unfair for this to happen to a young man in his prime.”

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