Reeve speaks after rare op

PARALYSED actor-director Christopher Reeve last night spoke publicly for the first time without the use of a mechanical ventilator, thanks to a “lung pacemaker” operation performed in February.

The Superman actor was paralysed from the neck down in a horseback riding accident in 1995.

Relying on electrode implants to breathe normally and foregoing a ventilator for up to 18 hours a day, the Superman star lobbied for spinal cord research in a taped interview with Barbara Walters on ABC's 20/20.