A Superman for Life
As Christopher Reeve is remembered for his role as a fictional superhero, another man struggling with his own life-altering illness may be remembered as a superman for life.
Family, friends and millions of fans grieved the October 10, 2004 death of actor, director and spinal-cord research advocate Christopher Reeve. Reeve, perhaps best known for his motion picture role as Superman, went into cardiac arrest and fell into a coma before dying at a hospital surrounded by his family. A contributing factor in his death is believed to be a pressure wound, a result of his paralysis.1
A 1995 horse-riding accident transformed the athletic Reeve into a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic known for his commitment to rehabilitation and tenacious promotion of spinal-cord research, including destroying human embryos for stem-cell studies.
Reeve's death was noted with particular sadness by one man who shared much of his plight and his hope. Canada's Mark Pickup wrote in a commentary the day following Reeve’s death,
"Christopher Reeve's life and mine had many similarities. Christopher Reeve and I were close in age. Both Christopher Reeve and I had careers cut short by disability (he with spinal cord injury and me with progressive multiple sclerosis). Christopher Reeve and I benefited from the support of a loving family throughout a long catastrophic disability. We both had to live in electric wheelchairs and other contraptions of disability."2
Like Reeve, Pickup is an advocate for stem-cell research and hopes that it might one day address the multiple sclerosis that dictates so much of his life. Unlike Reeve, though, Pickup draws the line at a controversial source of stem cells — those derived from destroying human embryos.
"I could not morally accept embryonic stem-cell therapies to deliver me from MS -- a disease that's slowly destroying me," he wrote. "Don't get me wrong, it would be tempting . . . incredibly tempting."
Pickup's opposition to embryonic stem-cell research is a moral one. He refuses to consider any treatment that comes from destroying 5 to 7 day-old human embryos. In addition, Pickup has done his homework and knows what so many in the media fail (or refuse) to report: the most tangible hope for multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries is adult — non-embryonic— stem cells, not cells from destroying human embryos.
Even Reeve admitted in the months preceding his death that embryonic stem cells were unlikely to benefit his condition. He told Reader's Digest that he advocated for embryonic stem-cell research because "scientists should be free to pursue every possible avenue."
"It appears, though, at the moment," he added, "that embryonic stem cells are effective in treating acute injuries and are not able to do much about chronic injuries."3
Reeve was right about the limitations of embryonic stem cells in therapies. To date, there are no clinical trials anywhere in the world using embryonic stem cells in humans. At the same time, adult stem cells are being used in treatment therapies for more than 70 diseases, including breast cancer, leukemia and sickle cell anemia. 4 The most immediate and tangible hope for many patients isn't the fictional hype of embryonic stem-cell research but rather the safe, life-honoring stem cells derived from such sources as skin cells, bone marrow and umbilical cord blood. Not one of these adult stem-cell sources requires the destruction of human life.
Donna Orr and Susan Stross are two of several hundred MS patients worldwide whose conditions have stabilized or improved, thanks to stem-cell transplants from their own bone marrow.5 Quadriplegic Laura Dominguez and paraplegic Susan Fajt are regaining muscle control and walking with the aid of braces due to stem-cell transplants from their own nasal cavities.6 Since these stem-cell transplants are from the patient's own bodies, there are no rejection issues or tumors -- both of which are problems plaguing embryonic stem-cell experiments in mice.7
Patients in the midst of struggling against injury and disease need scientific hope. They also need spiritual hope. A September 2004 feature on Dominquez in her hometown newspaper, the San Antonio Express-News, included an interview with her personal trainer, Ivan Ujeta, who works with her three times a week on physical therapy. Ujeta is also a local pastor who drills Laura in Bible verse memorization.
As the Express News story related: "(Laura) gets to Jeremiah 29:11 and stumbles. 'Something about a plan,' she says. 'That's right,' says Ujeta. 'For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.' "8
God has a plan for Laura. He also has a plan for Mark Pickup. Pickup believes the promise in Jeremiah 29:11 and trusts God in his affliction. He doesn't know if his physical ability will be regained in his life or in his death. He does know, however, that destroying human life for scientific gain is wrong. It violates God's plan for the tiny human lives sacrificed along the way.
Reeve — the fictional "Superman" — ardently supported research that facilitates the cannibalization of young humans for their cellular spare parts. Pickup, on the other hand, is willing to turn his back on research that might help him walk again if it comes at the expense of another human life, a conviction that makes him a different kind of superman — a superman for life.
Carrie Gordon Earll is the Senior Policy Analyst for Bioethics at Focus on the Family and a fellow with the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity.
For more information on Mark Pickup's pro-life ministry, Human Life Matters, see, ” <http://www.humanlifematters.com>
1 ‘“Superman’ star Christopher Reeve dead at 52,” <http://www.CNN.com> accessed on-line 10/13/04.
2 Mark Pickup, “Don’t use Christopher Reeve’s death to promote embryonic stem cell research,” www.LifeNews.com accessed on-line 10/12/04.
3 Alanna Nash, “Christopher Reeve: A hero onscreen and off,” Reader’s Digest, www.rd.com accessed on-line 10/13/04.
4 "Current Stem Cell Applications," CorCell: Saving Baby's Cord Blood, <http://www.corcell.com/expectant/diseases_treated.html#current> accessed on-line 10/4/05;
"Diseases Treatable by Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant,” National Marrow Donor Program, <http://www.marrow.org/PHYSICIAN/diseases_treatable.html> accessed on-line 10/14/04, re-accessed on 10/4/05.
5 Warren King, “Susan Stross still dreams,” The Seattle Times, July 9, 1998; Warren King, “High o the future: Already saving lives, stem-cell research may soon be in full swing,” The Seattle Times, August 29, 2001.
6Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje, “The will to walk; Teen pins hopes on Portuguese procedure and lots of grit,” San Antonio Express-News (Texas), September 12, 2004; Chuck Lindell, “Texas stem cell recipients revive debate: Woman who had adult cell therapy tells senators paralysis has eased,” Austin American-Statesman (Texas), July 15, 2004.
7Tim Friend, “The stem cell hard sell: Would public be more receptive with more knowledge?,” USA Today, July 17, 2001; Paul Recer, “Embryonic stem cells used to correct symptoms of Parkinson’s in lab rats, researchers say,” Associated Press, January 8, 2002.
8 Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje, “The will to walk; Teen pins hopes on Portuguese procedure and lots of grit,” San Antonio Express-News (Texas), September 12, 2004.
If you enjoy reading stories like this one, sign up for the free CitizenLink Daily Update e-mail. You'll get news and commentary from Focus on the Family Action delivered right to your computer.
