'Harry Potter' stuntman David Holmes is living "vicariously" through Daniel Radcliffe.
The 42-year-old performer was left paralysed from the chest down with limited movement in his arms and hands after falling to the ground and breaking his neck on set during rehearsals for a flying scene in 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1' in early 2009.
Subsequently, he suffered a cyst in his spinal cord which means his condition is deteriorating, and it's likely he will be fully paralysed, which would make it impossible for him to breathe, speak or swallow independently.
He told The Independent newspaper: "Every time I see his physicality in films, I can vicariously live through those successes just because I know that those early days it was me that was whipping him into shape and laying the foundation for him."
David is sharing his own story in new documentary 'The Boy Who Lived', and he has been candid about his lasting friendship with the 34-year-old Hollywood star, having met on the set of 2001 movie 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'.
He recalled: "I would shut the stunt store’s door and we would play; whether that’s jumping off of portacabins or bouncing on trampolines, doing all the things that an insurance company would have a heart attack over.
“It was important that I create an environment where he could just be a kid.”
Even as he was in hospital in the immediate aftermath, David tried to stay positive, and insisted he found some perspective in other people's experiences.
He explained: "You choose to be either a victim or a survivor in all things in life, right?”
“I went into hospital and I met real victims, people that were living with their spinal cord injury because they were either victim of a hate crime or terrorist attack.
"It soon made me own my life choices very, very quickly.”
