Trekinetic GTE wheelchair user, David Holmes who was critically injured when acting as Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt double whilst filming Harry Potter movie, the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, has a new documentary, ‘David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived‘, streaming on HBO and Sky about his inspirational story.
For David, working on a Harry Potter movie was the opportunity of a lifetime. A committed gymnast and junior stuntman, David became Daniel Radcliffe’s primary stunt double on the hugely successful Harry Potter movie franchise. For a long time, it was a dream life, pushing the boundaries of stunt work and being part of a pop cultural whirlwind. Until… it wasn’t – Holmes was injured on set, when a stunt went wrong, leaving him paralysed from the chest down. Check out the emotional trailer below…
Essex-born Holmes, who is now 42, has been paralysed from the chest down ever since rehearsing a flying scene at Warner Bros Studios, Leavesden, in 2009 when he was pulled backwards “at speed” by a high-strength wire in a “jerk back” stunt that replicates the effects of an explosion. However, Holmes was launched into a wall and he immediately broke his neck.
He was rushed to Watford General Hospital before being transferred to the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, north west London, where he remained for six months. It was here that Holmes discovered he was paralysed from the chest down, and would have limited movements in his arms and hands. Holmes said of the immediate aftermath of the incident: “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.
With his life turned upside down, David’s extraordinary spirit of resilience becomes a source of strength and inspiration to everyone around him. Featuring intimate interviews with David, Daniel Radcliffe, friends, family, and colleagues, ‘David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived’ reflects on living with adversity, forging a new identity, and the bonds that bind us together and lift us up.
With Radcliffe involved as interviewee in front of the camera and an executive producer behind it, the new doc, directed by Dan Hartley, explores Holmes’ life before and after the incident, showing the inspirational way he’s turned what happened into a chance to help others as well as himself.
The documentary will land in the US first via cable channel HBO and allied streaming service Max on 15 November, and will then arrive on Sky Documentaries and NOW on 18 November.
For more information about David’s Trekinetic GTE Wheelchair please click here.
