HE'S A TRUE HERO

‘An accident during filming left his Harry otter stunt double paralysed now actor Daniel Radcliffe has made a documentary about his inspirational friend

- MEGHAN LAWRENCE

HE THOUGHT he'd landed the best job in the world the movie was all everyone could talk about and being part of the magic was a dream come true.

David Holmes was to be the stunt double for Daniel Radcliffe, the 11-year-old chosen to play Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first movie in the blockbuster franchise.

David, then 19, had to do all the dangerous stunts, such as flying on a broomstick and battling the dastardly Lord Voldemort in mid-air. He was so good at it all he was called back for numerous movies and formed a close bond with Daniel, who looked up to David as his "really cool big brother".

Then in 2009 disaster struck. In the penultimate film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, David crashed into a wall while performing a flying stunt, breaking his neck and severely injuring his spine.

He was rushed to hospital where doctors told him he'd never walk again and would have limited use of his arms and hands. While the Harry Potter movies continued without him, David had to get used to life in a wheelchair.

The cruel irony of this wasn't lost on Daniel. The way he sees it, David is the real hero and it's the reason why, 14 years down the line, he decided to make a documentary about his friend.

Titled David Holmes: The Boy Who  Lived – a nod to the name often used in the books to refer to Harry – the documentary, produced by Daniel (34) for streaming service HBO, shows how the freak accident changed David’s life.

It also shows the impact the event had on Daniel. In the trailer for the documentary, the star breaks down as he revisits the tragedy.

“It is unfair,” he says. “He shouldn’t have had to do any of that.”