What happened to David Holmes? Harry Potter accident that left stuntman paralysed

Among the many tales in the Harry Potter franchise there remains one which is only just about to be told for the first time.

David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived is a brand new documentary which airs on Sky and Now on Saturday.

It tells the story of David Holmes – Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt double in the Harry Potter films – who suffered a life-changing injury in the penultimate film in the series.

Executive produced by Radcliffe, it is billed as a “a coming-of-age story of stuntman David Holmes”, revealing the “extraordinary spirit of resilience” which has enabled him to survive a debilitating spinal injury.

What happened to David Holmes?

Promising young gymnast David Holmes was picked to be Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt double for the first film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, in 2000 at the age of 18.

During the course of filming the series of films, he became close friends with the cast and crew, particularly a young Radcliffe who saw him like an older brother.

“I got to hang out with this cool older kid who could do backflips,” Radcliffe recalled in the documentary. While Holmes said: “Twice a week, I’d shut the door [of a room full of crash mats] and let him be a kid.”

But his life as he knew it came to an abrupt end on the set of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 in 2009.

In a scene in which Harry is attacked by the serpent Nagini, Holmes was rehearsing being launched into a wall. More weights had been added to a pulley system to allow the stunt Harry to fly through the air faster.

But the stunt did not go as planned, he hit the wall, broke his neck and was left dangling “like a puppet on a string”. “I remember hitting the wall, my chest folding into my nose,” he said, “I was fully conscious for the whole thing.”

“I can’t feel me legs, guv,” he told stunt co-ordinator Greg Powell. The injury left him paralysed from the waist down.

Where is he now?

The documentary examines the accident and the impact it has had on those around him, including fellow stuntman Marc Mailley and stunt co-ordinator Greg Powell, and Holmes’ life since that tragic moment.

Now aged 40, he lives Leigh-on-Sea in Essex in a home specially designed by him with adaptations for his disability.

There was no lengthy court battle after the accident and he said the studio Warner Bros has taken care of him financially.

He had hoped to return to the films in a supervisory role following the accident but his disability meant this was no longer possible.

Instead, he campaigns for those with spinal cord injuries, has a podcast with Radcliffe – Cunning Stunts – in which the pair interview stuntmen and he has plans in the pipeline for a stunt training centre.

A cyst which developed on his spinal cord has meant he has lost the use of his right arm and his condition continues to deteriorate. But he remains relentlessly positive.

In an interview for The Guardian, he said: “I will always say breaking my neck made a man of me. For sure, 100 per cent.”

David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived airs on Sky Documentaries at 9pm on Saturday 18 November and will be available to watch on demand on Now.