Christopher Reeve's doctor says paralyzed actor is making progress

SLP2002091205 - ST. LOUIS, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Dr. John McDonald, a Washington University neurologist, examines stem cells in his laboratory in mid-town St. Louis on Sept. 12, 2002. McDonald has been involved with the rehabilitation program of actor Christopher Reeve, who broke his neck in a 1995 riding accident and is now paralyzed from the neck down. McDonald, director of Washington University's Spinal Cord Injury Center, says Reeve has improved two grades on a spinal cord injury scale and has reported that Reeve has regained most feeling over most of his body and can move his hands and feet. Two years ago Reeve regained the ability to move his index finger and has made small incremental gains since then. rlw/bg/Bill Greenblatt UPI