Daniel Radcliffe’s paralysed stunt double shares why he didn’t sue after accident on Harry Potter set

Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter stunt double, David Holmes, shares details on the aftermath of the horrid on-set accident that left him paralysed.

David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived – a new documentary premiering on HBO – reveals a dark side to the magical 10 years that was the Harry Potter movie franchise.

“It was an incredible 10 years,” Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe says in the documentary – which premieres on BINGE today – as per Decider.

“It’s good to acknowledge that can also be true, and this terrible thing happened to Dave.”

What happened to Holmes, who had worked as Radcliffe’s stunt double since the first Harry Potter film, was that he broke his neck in an accident on set, while rehearsing for the seventh film. He was left paralysed for life.

Though he originally was able to retain motor functions in both his arms, neck and head, complications with the surgery have led to the paralysis spreading over the years.

Daniel Radcliffe is also an executive producer on the documentary.

These days, Holmes can only move his left arm. He lives in fear of the paralysis spreading further – possibly someday rendering him unable to speak.

Holmes walks viewers through the accident: He’d been rehearsing a stunt for the scene in Deathly Hallows Part 1 in which Harry is attacked by the snake Nagini and thrown through a wall. Holmes was hooked up to a cable pulley system that yanked him backward into a mat, via weights added to the other end of the cable.

On the day of the accident, in January 2009, too much weight was added to the end of the cable, and Holmes was yanked back at frightening speed.

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David Holmes was Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt double on the films for 10 years before the accident. Picture: HBO

“I remember hitting the wall, my chest folded into my nose, and I was fully conscious throughout the whole thing,” Holmes says in the film.

Though it would likely be a no-brainer case for a personal injury lawyer, Holmes did not pursue a major lawsuit, nor does he feel the blame for his injury lies on any one person.

“Straight away, I was like, do I go for the specifics of the blame – the individuals that were in charge of each thing?” Holmes says in the film. “I was like, ‘What is people getting sacked really going to change? You’re paralysed. You’re not going to get fixed.’ It was just a catalogue of errors that led to my paralysis.”

The men have become good friends over the years with Radcliffe there every step on the way. Picture: HBO

“I had to focus on being positive, and I still do. I’m really shy against anything that brings me negativity or makes me feel negative. It’s like an allergic reaction, I just push it away as quickly as possible.”

It seems Holmes did receive some money from the Warner Bros. insurance policy following his accident, but it’s not clear how much.

In the doc, Holmes speaks vaguely of getting money from the studio via the studio’s insurance, saying, “My biggest fear was actually, I’ve got mortgages to pay, I’ve got a life to lead, and I don’t know where I’m going to be. But the studio stepped up and said, ‘We’ve got insurance. You’re going to have to go through a legal process, but you’re gonna be alright.’ I’m lucky that everything was in place for me to be looked after like that.”

However, other than what the insurance company paid out – which is really a financial burden for the insurance company, not the studio – it seems Warner Bros. did not pay for Holmes’ medical expenses.

David Holmes says there was no point suing as it wouldn’t “fix” the situation. Picture: HBO

In 2010, Radcliffe hosted a charity dinner and auction to raise $US6000 for “Holmes’ ongoing care,” according to a 2010 report.

Even though Holmes is clear that he doesn’t blame him, Harry Potter stunt co-ordinator Greg Powell, who was interviewed for the documentary, says he blames himself.

“I still blame myself, because I was there,” Powell tells the documentary’s director Dan Hartley (who also worked on the films as a video assist operator).

Powell adds that it’s difficult for him to see Holmes these days, because of the guilt he carries, and has largely avoided him since the accident. When he reunites with Holmes on camera, his discomfort is clear.

“It hurts, Dan, it really does,” Powell tells Hartley. “I f***ed his life right up. F***ed it right up.”

This article originally appeared in Decider and was reproduced with permission

David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived premieres Thursday, November 16 on BINGE and on FOX Docos at 10pm and available On Demand.