Christopher Reeve's Kids Reveal Emotional First Words They Told Dad the First Time They Saw Him Paralyzed

Matthew, Alexandra and Will Reeve spoke with Diane Sawyer about their late father on 'Good Morning America'

Christopher Reeve's children are recalling the first time they spoke to their dad after his life-altering 1995 equestrian accident that left him paralyzed.

Matthew Reeve, Alexandra Reeve Givens and Will Reeve spoke with Diane Sawyer about their late father ahead of the release of the documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story on Good Morning America Monday, Sept. 16.

Alexandra, 40, recalled how stepmother Dana Reeve briefed the kids before taking them in to see Christopher, explaining that she "walked us down and she said, 'It's gonna look really scary, but he's still there. Just talk to him. Ignore everything else. Just talk to him.' "

"She said, 'You can hold his hand.' And it has machines on it, you know, and you're reaching and holding his fingers," she continued.

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Related: Christopher Reeve's Son Will Reveals the Dinner Table Rule His Family Implemented After His Dad's Accident

"As far as I remember my first words were just, 'I love you. We're here,' " added Matthew, now 44.

Will, 32, was just shy of 3 years old when his dad was thrown from his horse and landed on his head during an equestrian competition on May 27, 1995, resulting in a severe spinal-cord injury that left him paralyzed from the neck down.

As Will said Monday on GMA, "I think in an effort to make sure that I wasn't terrified of my dad permanently, my mom made sure that I was involved as was reasonable."

"That included always being near him and touching him and helping lift his legs to range him, which is important for someone with a spinal-cord injury," explained the ABC News correspondent.

Superman legend Christopher died at the age of 52 in 2004, and his wife Dana died 17 months later at the age of 44 after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

Related: What Happened to Christopher Reeve? A Look at His Life-Altering Accident in 1995 and Lasting Legacy

About losing both his parents at such a young age, Will told PEOPLE that he received an extraordinary amount of support from family and friends.

"I moved in with our beloved neighbors who were our best friends," he explained of what happened next. "And that's been such an unlikely, amazing experience for almost 20 years."

Will went on to say that "everybody came through," to help him, calling it "an all-hands-on-deck situation" that also included his "maternal grandparents, Charles and Helen Morini," who "were unbelievably indispensable."

"We were fortunate enough to live in a tight-knit community," he said. "We had big groups of friends and teachers and coaches and people from the past and people from the present just chipping in however they could always."

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is in select theaters Sept. 21 and Sept. 25.

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