Tragic true story of 'the other Harry Potter' whose life changed forever after a catastrophic injury on set
A stunt double for Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe has opened up about the horrific injury he sustained on set 16 years ago which left him paralysed from the neck down.
At 25 years old, David Holmes was working on film sets after becoming a trained gymnast; having overcome years of childhood bullying to live out his dream.
He was at the height of his career and working on one of the biggest film franchises in the world when his life changed in an instant following an on-set accident.
David, now 44, from Romford, was rehearsing a fight scene for The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 film in 2009 when he fell and plummeted to the ground, hearing the sound of his own neck snapping as he reached the ground.
Medics rushed around him but the damage had already been done, with David left paralysed from the chest down bar some limited movements in his arms and hands.
Now he has detailed his dismay at the horrendous injury that wrecked his career, calling it 'the gift that keeps on taking'.
Despite the catastrophic consequences of his injuries he is ever the optimist, and said he believes that being alive in itself is a 'gift'.
Appearing as a guests on Mamamia's No Filter podcast, he opened up about his gratitude for the Harry Potter franchise and how the injury it left him with has changed his outlook on life.
David was first cast as the 'second Harry' when he was just 17-years-old, his small frame making him the ideal stunt man for 11-year-old Daniel Radcliffe.
Throughout his nearly decade-long tenure working on the iconic film set, he was more than just a second Harry.
'I'm the Hermione when the troll smashes through the bathroom doors. I'm the Ron sitting on the back of the horses he gets hit with on the chest piece. I'm the Malfoy in the Quidditch match, flying off of his broom,' he recalled.
But his fearless streak would soon to come to end. During a routine stunt filming The Deathly Hallows: Part 1, the wire attaching him to a harness and pulley system, suddenly snapped, causing David to plummet to the ground. He was paralysed instantly.
He was initially taken to A&E at Watford General Hospital but transferred to a specialist spinal injury centre when the extent of his injuries became apparent.
He spent several months in hospital and has since undergone years of treatment and surgeries.
'My spinal cord separated at the C 67 vertebrae just at the bottom of your at the bottom of your neck before your thorax starts,' he said.
He recalled how the accident 16 years ago made him 'vulnerable' and 'needy' after being 'stripped back' to how he was as a toddler.
'People needed to feed me, people needed to dress me, wash me, you name it, and then gruelling rehabilitation,' he remembered in painstaking detail.
Several cast members remained by his side, visiting David in hospital and showing their support.
'They were young to have to see me like that, with wires in me and stuff hanging out my nose,' he said in the podcast.
'For me being brave for them on camera all those years... they got the opportunity to flip that and be brave for me.'
David and Daniel's bond is one that still endures today, with the two having collaborated in filming a documentary on the former stunt master titled The Boy Who Lived.
In 2020, the pair also recorded a podcast series, Cunning Stunts, about stunt double acting.
Daniel took time out a busy filming schedule to visit his stunt double in hospital, a gesture David has never forgotten, describing his as 'a great human being that will sacrifice his life to make sure other people stay employed.'
Now 16-years on snap that changed the trajectory of his life for ever, David is able to look on his injury with optimism.
'What's worse than breaking your neck is the pain in your loved one's eyes,' he said.
'Life is hard, broken neck or not. I learned that lesson at 25, and it made me make peace with the fact it teaches you gratitude. I am here today, now. Where am I going to be in 10 years' time, in my body? I can't tell you… it forces me to be here now to take in the day.'
Being paralysed from the waist down comes with it's complications, from which David doesn't shy away - and he's always able to see the funny side.
'I can't have control of my bowel routine,' he said. 'So that means I've had more hands up my a** than the cast of The Muppets.'
'I've cr**ped myself everywhere — top of mountains, film premieres, you name it … it never gets easier. But if you can find the joy and humour after it, it gets a little bit more digestible. So I always just laugh at myself.'
Elsewhere in the interview, he discussed his relationship with his partner Rosie, a C-4 quadriplegic he met while renting her property in Spain.
'We don't connect over our injuries,' he said. 'We connect over our love for each other and our shared experience of being loved by great families and friends and committed care teams.'
'Our shared life experience when we go on holiday together, it means more because we have to work harder for it. And every orgasm that we both give each other, it means more because we're having an orgasm below our level of injury, something that most people say is unachievable.'
He said he was 'grateful' for the life that the two are able to share, adding that they were enjoying having the best sex of their lives together.
David also holds immense gratitude for having shared in the Harry Potter experience, praising the franchise for how it has helped others through difficult times.
'There are kids in conflict zones right now, petrified… their parents put Harry Potter on a phone in front of them, and it helps them escape their reality,' he said.
'There are people struggling with mental health issues right now that are always like turning to those films to help them get through a tough time. I'm very, very grateful that I was able to contribute to that fact for tons and tons of people.'
'I get to share my perspective, and hopefully someone goes, 'That's helped me today',' he said.
'We get one chance in life. The best thing is sharing, to share the experience of being a dumb monkey on a rock, spinning through space with a load of other dumb monkeys on a rock.'
'There'll be a generation of people behind me that have a spinal cord injury that will be like that lost little boy that I was in hospital feeling like hope is all gone. And then maybe, just maybe, they might find my journey and my story, and it might give them hope.'
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