The American film actor Christopher Reeve, the Hollywood superhero, came to Israel for a five-day solidarity visit as the guest of Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. In 1995, Reeve fell from his horse during an equestrian competition, and as a result injured his back and was left paralyzed in all four limbs. After the accident, he began working to help people with spinal cord injuries. He supported research into stem cell healing and founded the National Paralysis Research Center. It was stem cell research that brought him to Israel, which is considered a leader in the field. Reeve’s trip included visits to the Technion, the Weizmann Institute of Science, and Alyn Hospital in Jerusalem. At the time, newspapers reported on the magic that Reeve radiated, that Eli Yatzpan made him laugh, that the sea excited him, and that the foreign minister told him: “You are a real hero.”