He spent years falling off broomsticks and being thrown backwards by magical explosions. He even came face-to-face with Lord Voldemort and lived to tell the tale.
But it was during a practice session on set that a Harry Potter stuntman was paralysed for life – and now he’s spoken out about his tragic accident.
Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt double, 30-year-old David Holmes, was paralysed while practising for scenes in one of the final Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, in 2009.
While rehearsing a flying scene – a “jerk back” stunt designed to replicate the effects of an explosion – Holmes was hurled into a wall and broke his neck.
Speaking for the first time about his accident to the UK’s Mirror, Holmes says that his first thought was: “Don’t ring mum and dad, I don’t want to worry them.”
Holmes says when he first hit the wall, he wasn’t aware of how serious his accident was.
“I hit the wall and then landed on the crash mat underneath. My stunt co-ordinator grabbed my hand and said, ‘Squeeze my fingers’. I could move my arm to grab his hand but I couldn’t squeeze his fingers,” Holmes explains.
“I looked into his eyes and that’s when I realised what happened was major.”
He spent six months in an orthopaedic hospital, and at first couldn’t even sit up because his muscles had wasted away. He was told he would be paralysed from the waist down and would barely be able to move his arms or hands.
