by Rich Schlueter

Christopher Reeves was strong, powerful, and at the height of his career. Life couldn’t have been much better. He had a bright future, exciting career, and loving family. Who didn’t know of Christopher Reeves and the super hero Superman?

His life changed forever when he was doing something he loved, riding a horse. He fell from the horse and was abruptly paralyzed, never to ride a horse again, walk again or hug his wife or son again. As Christopher said “I really put to the limits our wedding vows of in sickness or in health.”  Early on after his accident his psychologist said to make sure you have your wife be your wife, not your nurse and not your mother. He was able to do that because he had the ability to spend over $200,000 a year on his nursing care. Dana wasn’t his nurse but instead his wonderful wife. Some people have the ability to pay for this level of care with own assets; others use an insurance company’s money. How would life have been different for Superman after that accident if he didn’t have the money to pay for the excellent care? 

The fact is, younger workers have over a 40% chance of a sickness or accident keeping them from work for more than 90 days before age 65, according to insurance industry statistics. Sickness or accident causes nearly 50% of all mortgage foreclosures while only 2% are caused by death, according to the independent website of www.disabilitycanhappen.org.