Son of Superman and the little man of steel

Reeve’s boy opens clinic for paralysed kids

WEARING a Superman suit, Jasper Thornton meets the real Man of Steel’s son at the opening of Britain’s first clinic for paralysed children.

Jasper, five, who had a spinal stroke in 2014, is a patient at the Neurokinex Kids centre, which offers pioneering therapy for spinal cord injuries.

It is a cause close to the heart of Matthew Reeve, whose actor dad Christopher was paralysed by a horse-riding accident in 1995.

Christopher, who won a Bafta for his role in the 1978 Superman film, was confined to a FILM ICON Reeve as Superman wheelchair and relied on a portable ventilator until he died in 2004, aged 52. His experience led him to set up the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation to help others with spinal injuries. The new £300,000 clinic, in Crawley, West Sussex, is the first of its kind in the UK and is affiliated to the foundation’s NeuroRecovery network. Matthew, 38, said every participant in the network had “experienced significant improvements” with some able to stand and even step. He added: “We look forward to hearing more success stories from this facility.”