{"id":383427,"date":"2026-01-02T11:23:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T11:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/383427\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T11:23:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T11:23:15","slug":"breaking-my-neck-hasnt-changed-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/383427\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking my neck hasn’t changed me"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IssacIssac Lamb<\/p>\n

Daniel and David have remained close friends after meeting on the Harry Potter set<\/p>\n

David Holmes was just 17 years old when he started making magic happen as Harry Potter’s stunt double.<\/p>\n

The talented gymnast, from Leigh-on-sea in Essex, performed stunts deemed too risky<\/a> for the film’s 11-year-old star Daniel Radcliffe.<\/p>\n

But in January 2009 while filming the seventh film, he was rapidly jerked back on a harness, leaving him paralysed at the age of 24.<\/p>\n

Here, in his own words, he explains how breaking his neck has never changed his personality, and how his friendship with Daniel, along with a new role in a Harry Potter audio book, has brought him peace.<\/p>\n

‘I will never regret my work on Harry Potter’<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Holmes<\/p>\n

David (left) says it was Daniel (right) who encouraged him to tell his story in a documentary<\/p>\n

I had the time of my life on the Harry Potter set. I was the first person to play Quidditch on a broomstick.<\/p>\n

I was filming a scene where Harry fights a snake and I remember hitting the wall and my chest folding into my nose. I was fully conscious for the whole thing. I knew I had broken my neck.<\/p>\n

After the accident, I lost a decade of my life but I never held on to hate and blame. I owned the fact that I chose a dangerous profession. And even though my accident was not my fault, I could do nothing about it. It was the job I chose to do.<\/p>\n

The hardest thing was the impact on my loved ones when they were seeing the trauma of what I was going through. <\/p>\n

I always tell myself that my stunts in those films were pivotal moments in the story. Harry Potter is a safe space for a lot of people. It’s a gift for humanity and I will always be proud of that and I don’t regret it.<\/p>\n

There are kids watching Harry Potter on phones in conflict zones and it’s making them feel safe. Families connect and enjoy them.<\/p>\n

My partner Rosie, who I met three years ago, is a quadriplegic like myself, and those films got her through some dark times. I know the power of storytelling and what that can do for people, and I can’t think of anything more lovely than knowing that I was there for her before I even knew her.<\/p>\n

It took me to break my neck to meet the woman of my dreams, she makes me feel like a man.<\/p>\n

‘I didn’t sue, I wanted to focus on my recovery’<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Holmes<\/p>\n

David was a stunt double for Harry Potter and several other characters on the film<\/p>\n

The accident wasn’t my fault and I had very little control over the best way to navigate it.<\/p>\n

The experience and the character of Harry Potter meant so much to me. The studio said their insurance would cover everything so I decided not to sue.<\/p>\n

I wanted to focus on my recovery. I know so many people who don’t have the luxury of an insurance policy so I would feel like a sham if I moaned about my situation.<\/p>\n

Six years ago, I was going in for major surgery on a cyst on my spinal cord. The right-hand side of my body is getting worse, doctors can’t tell me whether I will retain my speech, breathing and swallowing in the future.<\/p>\n

The operation was a huge risk. Unfortunately it hasn’t stopped things getting worse but I survived.<\/p>\n

Before I went in, I made a short YouTube video explaining my contribution to the Harry Potter films in case I died.<\/p>\n

I speak to Daniel [Radcliffe] all the time, we’re very good friends, and he encouraged me to tell my story. We released the documentary David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived<\/a>. I have never watched it but one day I won’t be able to get out of bed and I will watch it then.<\/p>\n

My acceptance of who I am has got even greater since I released it. I’m a person with a severe disability who has a platform and I push for as much awareness as possible. <\/p>\n

People aren’t aware of how difficult it is to live as a disabled person. If me and Rosie moved in together, we would lose access to a lot of our support. We live in a society where disabled people are punished to love each other. <\/p>\n

I can’t go to a cinema and sit next to her because there aren’t two disabled spaces. I can’t visit my friends’ houses because they are not accessible. I try and shed some light on these issues. I do what I can with what I’ve got, I’m always pushing for more for my community.<\/p>\n

‘It’s really cool to be back in the wizarding world’<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Holmes<\/p>\n

David is still close friends with Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Holmes<\/p>\n

David, pictured with Tom to his left, also performed stunts as Dracoy Malfoy<\/p>\n

I’m playing Stan Shunpike, the conductor of the Knight Bus, in the new audiobook of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which comes out in January.<\/p>\n

It was the third movie I filmed, and I was actually on the bus as the stunt double for Daniel, whizzing through the streets of London.<\/p>\n

I was honoured when they asked me to audition and it’s really cool to be back in the wizarding world.<\/p>\n

The character breakdown is a cockney who talks himself up a lot, so it wasn’t hard for me! I was there when the original lines were delivered so it felt like a full circle moment.<\/p>\n

For ages, I’ve been campaigning for a wizard in a wheelchair or a disability to be visible in that world in some way. It’s nice for the fan base that know my story, that I’ve been included.<\/p>\n

I hope it leads on to other roles as a voice actor, my voice is still there and I can still create art with it.<\/p>\n

‘I want to remind people to wiggle your toes’<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Holmes<\/p>\n

David organises an annual cricket match featuring the Harry Potter cast, to raise money for the hospital where he receives treatment<\/p>\n

Every year I organise a cricket match with the Harry Potter cast and crew, raising money for the spinal cord injury centre in Stanmore (north-west London) and this year I want to make that even bigger. <\/p>\n

I’m writing a kids book about a teenage stunt performer and I would love to host a fully inclusive festival for disabled people.<\/p>\n

I’m also thinking of doing a one-man show, talking about my time on Harry Potter and the crazy adventures I’ve had. I’m applying for funding to assist me with my cost of care to do it.<\/p>\n

Hopefully people will think there is a story to tell. I want people to leave my show with an appreciation for stunt performers. If my legs came back to life tomorrow, I would go straight back to work. It’s the best job in the world, I travelled the world telling stories with my physicality.<\/p>\n

The thing I’m most proud of is that I broke my neck and stayed the same person. And I want to remind people to wiggle your toes. Health is real wealth. Practise gratitude every day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Issac Lamb Daniel and David have remained close friends after meeting on the Harry Potter set David Holmes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,451,3,452,453],"class_list":{"0":"post-383427","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking-news","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}