The Brooke Ellison Story [DVD] [2004]

Christopher Reeve directed this inspiring made-for-television drama based on a true story, which turned out to be his final project before his passing in 2004. When she was 11 years old, Brooke Ellison was involved in an auto accident that caused her extensive head trauma and serious injuries to her spinal cord. Doctors were uncertain if Brooke would survive, and while she pulled through, the young girl was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. However, Brooke was determined to live as close to a "normal" life as was possible, and to excel despite her condition. With the unflagging support of her mother, who attended classes with her every day, Brooke not only received top marks in high school, but graduated from Harvard with honors. The Brooke Ellison Story stars Vanessa Marano as young Brooke, Lacey Chabert as Brooke in her teen and young-adult years, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as her mother, Jean.