Look up in the sky, Superman fans, because there’s a great Christopher Reeve documentary heading your way. Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story chronicles the late Reeve’s life, from his time as a young, aspiring actor, through his career highlight of playing the definitive Clark Kent/Superman, and into the horse-riding accident that paralyzed him from the neck down and started him on a path of disability advocacy and activism.

The title is fitting: Reeve was a man, but also superhuman in his determination and will to not only recover from his near-fatal injury, but to use his platform to become a trailblazer for those like him who needed someone to fight for them. Everyone knows the story of him being Superman, offering what will arguably be the defining portrayal of the beloved superhero forever. Fewer people, however, know the story of what happened when the superhero fell.

On May 27, 1995, Reeve was riding his horse when the horse balked at a jump, throwing Reeve from the saddle. He landed awkwardly, shattering the first and second vertebrae in his neck, instantly becoming paralyzed and unable to breathe. Through quick intervention, doctors saved his life but he and his family were forever changed.

Thanks to his wife, Dana, his children, and the humor of his best friend Robin Williams – yes, that Robin Williams – Reeve regained the will to live and transformed his tragedy into purpose. He underwent multiple surgeries to repair his fractured neck and install a ventilator to help him breathe, then endured months of rehabilitation to relearn how to do basic skills in a different way. Through it all, he discovered that he wanted to live, not for others or out of a sense of obligation, but for himself. As he said in a 1998 interview (via Ability Magazine)

“Who knows why an accident happens? The key is what do you do afterward. There is a period of shock, and then grieving, with confusion and loss. After that, you have two choices. One is to stare out the window and gradually disintegrate. And the other is to mobilize and use all your resources, whatever they may be, to do something positive. That is the road I have taken. It comes naturally to me. I am a competitive person and right now I am competing against decay. I don’t want osteoporosis or muscle atrophy or depression to beat me.”

Together, he and Dana founded the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, and Reeve remained a committed activist for disability and other causes up until his death in 2004. Christopher Reeve’s life proved, as the saying goes, that not all heroes wear capes.

Get tickets to Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story