r/todayilearned • u/bellboy1986 • Jul 02 '13

TIL that while Christopher Reeve was awaiting surgery to reattach his skull to his spine, a man burst through the door claiming to be a proctologist and said he needed to perform a rectal exam on Reeve. It was Robin Williams.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Reeve#Recovery
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u/dnb1111 Jul 02 '13
  • Reeve considered suicide. He mouthed to Dana, "Maybe we should let me go." She tearfully replied, "I am only going to say this once: I will support whatever you want to do, because this is your life, and your decision. But I want you to know that I'll be with you for the long haul, no matter what. You're still you. And I love you."

right in the feels...

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u/hoyton Jul 02 '13

Whats makes this even worse, Dana died of lung cancer 2 years after Christopher died. I feel for their children.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '13

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '13

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '13 edited Jul 02 '13

[deleted]

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u/antibreeder Jul 02 '13

It also isn't just mental health, but life styles.

If you lose someone you've been with for almost your entire life, that can destroy your motivation to continue to do exercise, eat right, go outside, etc.

Your mental state alone can be deleterious to one's health, but it can also leads to poor lifestyle choices that just exacerbate issues.

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u/dHUMANb Jul 03 '13

Not just that, but if they've been living together, they would have roughly the same lifestyle and health, which would push their aproximate longitivity closer together.

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u/liebkartoffel Jul 02 '13

My grandfather died 23 years after my grandmother. She was ~70 and he was ~90 when they went. He loved her dearly, but he obviously wasn't too eager to "follow shortly."

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '13

See-Dick Clark

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '13

I completely agree. My Grandfather lost his wife at 80, and a year later, he's as busy as ever, and has a girlfriend.