[Apparelyzed]

Reeve's widow dies of lung cancer

Dana Reeve, actress and widow of Superman actor Christopher Reeve, has died of lung cancer.

Reeve, 44, who led the Christopher Reeve Foundation, was diagnosed with the disease in August 2005.

She took over the organisation, which he founded, after his death. Reeve cared for her husband for nine years after he was paralysed in an accident.

Reeve, a non-smoker all her life, died on Monday, the foundation's president and chief executive Kathy Lewis said.

"We are extremely saddened by the death of Dana Reeve, whose grace and courage under the most difficult of circumstances was a source of comfort and inspiration to all of us," Lewis said in a statement.

She was a singer when she met Christopher Reeve. They married in 1992 and celebrated the arrival of son Will in the same year.

Three years later, her husband suffered a riding accident and was left paralysed from the neck down.

Dana Reeve devoted her life to his care, and immediately gave up her singing career.

Her acting credits included guest appearances in police dramas Law And Order and Feds.

She also played Wendy Schulz in a number of episodes of prison series Oz.

Reeve took over her husband's work at the foundation after his death in October 2004 at the age of 52 from an infection resulting from a pressure wound.

In November last year, she said she was responding well to treatment.

Actress Catherine Zeta Jones, a supporter of the foundation, said of Reeve: "She's better than Superwoman, she's Wonder Woman. Dana is like a saint to me."


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/ente...ent/4782612.stm