Re: Christopher Reeve
CloudSing (CloudSing(AT)aol.com)
Sun, 10 May 1998 00:10:08 EDT
Well, my thinking on Christopher Reeve is that he has paid his dues & is
entitled to his own opinions & his own agenda. Many of us are possibly just a
teeny bit envious that he has this fabulous opportunity to get his agenda out
there, while the rest of us do not. (I include myself in this "us" group
because, while I have not experienced a SCI, I have been legally blind since
birth & have Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID) & other chronic medical
problems). What I have seen change since his arrival on the disability scene
is that quadriplegia is no longer such a taboo subject. I mean, people see
that if he can have a quality life with the highest possible of injuries, then
so potentially can everybody else with a SCI. My husband is a C6 & suddenly
that sounds better since Reeve is so much higher. No doubt it's EASIER to live
a quality life if you have lots of money, but Christopher Reeve certainly
isn't the first wealthy person to break his neck, & I don't see people going
out of their ways to pick on the other folks lucky enough not to have to
grovel & struggle for appropriate care & equipment. In any event, I think that
the good which Reeve is doing outweighs the intermittent irritations caused by
his philosophical spin on things. I've always said that if some bad or lousy
disease is going to happen to anyone, it had better happen also to someone (or
the child of someone) who is rich & famous. I may not agree with everything
Boomer Esiason says, but there's no question in my mind that the best thing
that ever happened to the tens of thousands of other kids who have cystic
fibrosis was when Esiason's kid was diagnosed with it. (Then there's also the
Kennedys & their experience with mental retardation.) I'd be interested to
know others' opinions on this subject. Nancy