On this day on 1995 American actor Christopher Reeve was thrown from his horse, leaving him quadriplegic; he later became an activist on behalf of people with spinal cord injuries

On May 27, 1995, Reeve's horse made a refusal. Witnesses said that the horse began the third fence jump and suddenly stopped. Reeve fell forward off the horse, holding on to the reins. His hands somehow became tangled in the reins, and the bridle and bit were pulled off the horse. He landed head first on the far side of the fence, shattering his first and second vertebrae. This cervical spinal injury, which paralyzed him from the neck down, also halted his breathing. Paramedics arrived three minutes later and immediately took measures to get air into his lungs. He was taken first to the local hospital, before being flown by helicopter to the University of Virginia Medical Center. Afterwards, he had no recollection of the accident. Because of Reeve's injury, Armand Assante replaced him for the role of Alan Breck Stewart in Kidnapped.

Submitted May 27, 2020 at 05:23PM by LIS1050010 https://ift.tt/2ZG9VkP