Photo: Google
Google is celebrating the life and legacy of late actor and activistChristopher Reeve, who is receiving his very own Google Doodle, which goes live Saturday.
The company is paying homage to Reeve with the Doodle to mark what would have been his 69th birthday. TheSupermanactordiedof heart failure at age 52 in 2004, nine years after he suffered a horseback riding accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down.
In his Google Doodle, Reeve is depicted in his wheelchair wearing a red shirt reminiscent of his famous Superman costume. Behind him sits a city skyline and a bright blue sky with “Google” written faintly in the clouds above.
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Reeve was thrown from a horse during an equestrian competition roadblock test in 1995, resulting in a spinal cord injury that made it impossible for him to regain movement again. According to theChristopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, “The injuries were so severe that even his mother begged the doctors to withdraw his mechanical ventilation, and he came to appreciate the possibility of ending his life.”
But when Dana, Reeve’s wife, told him, “You’re still you. And I love you,” it gave the actor the push he needed to “grab on to life.”
He later traveled around the world to meet scientists, public representatives, entrepreneurs, and philanthropists for the cause, according to his foundation. In his efforts, he “became the voice, and above all the beacon of hope, of all those who live with paralysis,” said Peter Wilderotter, former president and CEO of the foundation.
Warner Brothers/Courtesy Everett Collection
Reeve, whose career included roles in multipleSupermanmovies, as well as,Somewhere in Time,The Remains of the DayandDeathtrap,was father to three children: son Matthew and daughter Alexandra, whom he welcomed with his former partner Gae Exton, and sonWill, whom he shared with Dana, who died of lung cancer in 2006.
Will previouslytold PEOPLEthat both his father and mother’s legacies are everlasting.
source: people.com
