'There was definitely a sense of tragedy': Daniel Radcliffe's stunt double speaks of moment he was paralysed in horrific accident during flying scene of final Harry Potter film



David Holmes was paralysed in accident at Warner Bros Studios in 2009

He was Daniel Radcliffe's stunt double on all Potter films before tragic injury

It occurred while practising stunts for Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows

Now races modified cars at 150mph despite not being able to walk



David Holmes, pictured, was paralysed after breaking his neck when he was hurled against a wall while acting as a Harry Potter stunt double

A Harry Potter stunt double, who was paralysed in a horrific accident while practising flying scenes for the blockbuster film, has told of the ‘sense of tragedy’ he felt when he realised he would never walk again.



David Holmes, who was 25 at the time of the accident, was rehearsing a flying scene involving an explosion for Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows when he was hurled into a wall before plummeting to the ground at the Warner Bros Studios in Leavesden, near Watford, Hertfordshire.



The former competitive gymnast remained conscious but told crew members: ‘I can’t feel my legs', before being taken to hospital where he was told he had broken his neck and would be paralysed for life.



Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Mr Holmes, now 30, recalled the horrific accident which occurred in January 2009.



He said he was thrown against the wall during a stunt and landed on the crash mat underneath.

He told the newspaper: ‘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.



‘There was definitely a sense of tragedy for me, but also a sense of sheer determination to beat it and better it.’

Mr Holmes, who worked as Daniel Radcliffe’s body double on all of the Potter films before the accident, was initially taken to A&E at Watford General Hospital, but was later transferred to The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, north-west London, where the extent of his injuries became apparent.

A source at the Leavesden-based film studios at the time of the accident said: ‘It is thought he may have been caught by the explosion and hit the ground very hard.



‘He told crew members who went to help him he couldn’t feel anything from the waist down.



David Holmes, pictured left wearing a brown wig and glasses, with actor Daniel Radcliffe, right, before the horrific accident occurred in January 2009 The accident took place at the Warner Bros Studios in Leavesden, Hertfordshire, while the stunt double was practicing flying scenes for Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, pictured

'Everyone is just hoping he makes a good recovery. It has come as a terrible shock.’



After the extent of Mr Holmes’ injuries became apparent, several of the Harry Potter cast and crew visited him at the specialist spinal injury unit.



Daniel Radcliffe, 24, and Tom Felton, 26, who played Draco Malfoy in the blockbuster movies, both visited the film worker at the hospital and could be seen visibly moved following their visit.



David Holmes was on set of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows at Warner Bros Studio at Leavesden, near Watford, Hertforshire, pictured, when the accident occurred Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, and girlfriend Jade Olivia, left, and Harry Potter himself David Radcliffe, right, pictured visiting David Holmes at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital following the accident



Mr Holmes, from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, who started his stunt career as a competitive gymnast from the age of just six, spent six months in the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital following the accident.



Despite being wheelchair-bound, he has since taken up driving a specially-modified car around race tracks at 150mph and has set up a production company, Ripple Productions, with two friends, who are also tetraplegic.



He is also an official appeal ambassador for the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital and continues to raise money for the hospital and spinal injury unit which treated him in the wake of the accident.

