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American Morning
Interview With Christopher Reeve
Aired January 01, 2003 - 07:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Talk about a super way to ring in the new year, Christopher Reeve and his wife Dana joined New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg last night in Times Square as the ball dropped to ring in the new year.
Earlier, I had a chance to talk with Reeve and I asked him about his remarkable progress that he's made against paralysis and also his hopes for the future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTOPHER REEVE, ACTOR, DIRECTOR, ACTIVIST, CHAIRMAN, AMERICAN PARALYSIS ASSOCIATION, FOUNDER, CHRISTOPHER REEVE FOUNDATION: I was told when I was in there, it was like that's it, you're finished. You'll never get any movement below your shoulders. But I kept exercising. Why? Basically because I said who knows if that's true or not? And also, I wanted to stay out of the hospital and exercise does a lot for cardiovascular and circulation, etc., etc., skin breakdowns, things that people with paralysis have to face.
So -- then all of a sudden in September of 2000 I suddenly found that I could move my left index finger on demand. That's totally bizarre. That made no sense whatsoever. So since there was no logic to that, it means that I should just keep going. So I did, and tried to move other things and found that I could. And with a concentrated program of exercise, my movement has increased.
KAGAN: Where are you today?
REEVE: Where am I today?
KAGAN: Um-hmm.
REEVE: I'm sitting down but when I'm not confined by gravity, like when I'm in a swimming pool or lying in bed, I can move my legs, I can move my feet, I can move my arms, I can move fingers. You know, it's really quite incredible.
KAGAN: I want to talk about some of your hopes for the new year in terms of your paralysis foundation.
REEVE: One of my hopes is, you know, I wrote a book called "Nothing Is Impossible" because when I was injured in 1995, there was still the stage when there was no hope for somebody at my level of injury. And they were still saying the spinal cord can't regenerate, forget about it. So now we're sitting here, you know, in the beginning of 2003 and we're talking about the possibility not only of curing paralysis, but with stem cells and advanced technology, including therapeutic cloning, which is really essential, we're talking about Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, leukemia, heart disease, cancer.
I mean it's unbelievable. There are hundreds of millions of dollars of people in the world who are suffering. So we've gone from what are we going to do about paralysis to what are we going to do about people who are suffering from diseases all over the world and to be part of it is really an honor.
DANA REEVE, WIFE: One of my hopes for the new year is that we are able to affect change in even more people's lives. Already it's been a tremendous resource for people with disabilities, particularly -- specifically, rather, paralysis. So I'm hoping that that continues on an upward trend and that more people find out about it and more people use it and that we can help people...
REEVE: Yes...
KAGAN: The difference between reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning needs to be pointed out and at the moment, both of us believe, and many, I think most of the people in the country believe that reproductive cloning should be banned.
REEVE: Absolutely.
DANA REEVE: That it's not, that it is not ethical, that we're fooling around with things that shouldn't happen. I know that that's our opinion.
REEVE: But what's called therapeutic cloning offers hope for so many millions of people. Then people need to understand, you're talking about an unfertilized egg. It's only a cluster of maybe 20, 30, a hundred cells a couple of days old. If you take the nucleus out, you put a person's DNA in there, and then it never leaves a laboratory, never becomes implanted in the womb and yet has the stem cells in it with your own DNA so that you won't face rejection.
KAGAN: And, finally, any resolutions for 2003?
REEVE: The success that I've had, the progress that I've had has been because I've had a lot of advantages and I want what's happened to me to translate to other people that don't have the same resources. There are 400,000 people with paralysis living in the United States right now and I want the good fortune that's come my way to also come to them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Well, there is no stopping Christopher Reeve. Next month he plans to take his first overseas trip since the accident. He and his wife are going to Australia. That's where a law has been passed that allows scientists to do the kind of stem cell research that reeve would like to see legalized here in the U.S. Another little slightly interesting note about Christopher Reeve, born in New York City, lived almost his entire life here in the New York area, but last night was his first time ringing in the new year in Times Square.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, no kidding?
KAGAN: And he was pumped. He was excited for it.
HARRIS: Now, you know, he deserves it, too.
KAGAN: Yes.
HARRIS: He deserves the opportunity.
Great story. Great story.
KAGAN: Yes.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 1, 2003 - 07:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Talk about a super way to ring in the new year, Christopher Reeve and his wife Dana joined New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg last night in Times Square as the ball dropped to ring in the new year.
Earlier, I had a chance to talk with Reeve and I asked him about his remarkable progress that he's made against paralysis and also his hopes for the future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTOPHER REEVE, ACTOR, DIRECTOR, ACTIVIST, CHAIRMAN, AMERICAN PARALYSIS ASSOCIATION, FOUNDER, CHRISTOPHER REEVE FOUNDATION: I was told when I was in there, it was like that's it, you're finished. You'll never get any movement below your shoulders. But I kept exercising. Why? Basically because I said who knows if that's true or not? And also, I wanted to stay out of the hospital and exercise does a lot for cardiovascular and circulation, etc., etc., skin breakdowns, things that people with paralysis have to face.
So -- then all of a sudden in September of 2000 I suddenly found that I could move my left index finger on demand. That's totally bizarre. That made no sense whatsoever. So since there was no logic to that, it means that I should just keep going. So I did, and tried to move other things and found that I could. And with a concentrated program of exercise, my movement has increased.
KAGAN: Where are you today?
REEVE: Where am I today?
KAGAN: Um-hmm.
REEVE: I'm sitting down but when I'm not confined by gravity, like when I'm in a swimming pool or lying in bed, I can move my legs, I can move my feet, I can move my arms, I can move fingers. You know, it's really quite incredible.
KAGAN: I want to talk about some of your hopes for the new year in terms of your paralysis foundation.
REEVE: One of my hopes is, you know, I wrote a book called "Nothing Is Impossible" because when I was injured in 1995, there was still the stage when there was no hope for somebody at my level of injury. And they were still saying the spinal cord can't regenerate, forget about it. So now we're sitting here, you know, in the beginning of 2003 and we're talking about the possibility not only of curing paralysis, but with stem cells and advanced technology, including therapeutic cloning, which is really essential, we're talking about Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, leukemia, heart disease, cancer.
I mean it's unbelievable. There are hundreds of millions of dollars of people in the world who are suffering. So we've gone from what are we going to do about paralysis to what are we going to do about people who are suffering from diseases all over the world and to be part of it is really an honor.
DANA REEVE, WIFE: One of my hopes for the new year is that we are able to affect change in even more people's lives. Already it's been a tremendous resource for people with disabilities, particularly -- specifically, rather, paralysis. So I'm hoping that that continues on an upward trend and that more people find out about it and more people use it and that we can help people...
REEVE: Yes...
KAGAN: The difference between reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning needs to be pointed out and at the moment, both of us believe, and many, I think most of the people in the country believe that reproductive cloning should be banned.
REEVE: Absolutely.
DANA REEVE: That it's not, that it is not ethical, that we're fooling around with things that shouldn't happen. I know that that's our opinion.
REEVE: But what's called therapeutic cloning offers hope for so many millions of people. Then people need to understand, you're talking about an unfertilized egg. It's only a cluster of maybe 20, 30, a hundred cells a couple of days old. If you take the nucleus out, you put a person's DNA in there, and then it never leaves a laboratory, never becomes implanted in the womb and yet has the stem cells in it with your own DNA so that you won't face rejection.
KAGAN: And, finally, any resolutions for 2003?
REEVE: The success that I've had, the progress that I've had has been because I've had a lot of advantages and I want what's happened to me to translate to other people that don't have the same resources. There are 400,000 people with paralysis living in the United States right now and I want the good fortune that's come my way to also come to them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Well, there is no stopping Christopher Reeve. Next month he plans to take his first overseas trip since the accident. He and his wife are going to Australia. That's where a law has been passed that allows scientists to do the kind of stem cell research that reeve would like to see legalized here in the U.S. Another little slightly interesting note about Christopher Reeve, born in New York City, lived almost his entire life here in the New York area, but last night was his first time ringing in the new year in Times Square.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, no kidding?
KAGAN: And he was pumped. He was excited for it.
HARRIS: Now, you know, he deserves it, too.
KAGAN: Yes.
HARRIS: He deserves the opportunity.
Great story. Great story.
KAGAN: Yes.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
