WEBVTT - David Homes Was Harry Potter's Stunt Double... And Then He Was Paralysed 0:00:10.365 --> 0:00:15.005 You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast. Mama Mea acknowledges 0:00:15.045 --> 0:00:17.685 the traditional owners of land and waters that this podcast 0:00:17.765 --> 0:00:18.525 is recorded on. 0:00:20.005 --> 0:00:21.885 You know this is a No Filter podcast. 0:00:21.965 --> 0:00:24.725 I wanted to share that story on the fact that 0:00:25.325 --> 0:00:28.525 me and Rosie had two quadriplegics having the best sex 0:00:28.565 --> 0:00:31.845 of our life, so there is hope that you haven't 0:00:31.885 --> 0:00:33.285 lost that sexual relationship. 0:00:41.285 --> 0:00:45.605 Hi, I'm Katelinebrook and welcome to No Filter. At just 0:00:45.685 --> 0:00:48.965 twenty five years old, David Holmes was living the dream. 0:00:49.525 --> 0:00:52.445 He was working on the biggest film franchise in the world, 0:00:53.085 --> 0:00:57.165 out partying and fully immersed in a life of sex, 0:00:57.325 --> 0:01:02.245 drugs and rock and roll. A former gymnast turned stunt man, 0:01:03.125 --> 0:01:07.205 David was Daniel Radcliffe's stunt double in all the Harry 0:01:07.205 --> 0:01:12.205 Potter films, literally going up alongside the cast, almost like 0:01:12.245 --> 0:01:15.445 a big brother to a group of preteens who would 0:01:15.485 --> 0:01:20.405 go on to become global stars. But while rehearsing a 0:01:20.485 --> 0:01:24.285 stunt for the final Harry Potter film, a move he'd 0:01:24.325 --> 0:01:30.245 done many times before, something went terribly wrong. David was 0:01:30.325 --> 0:01:35.125 flung into a wall and broke his neck. He remembers 0:01:35.165 --> 0:01:40.565 the sound, the feeling, and staying completely conscious as emergency 0:01:40.605 --> 0:01:45.645 services arrived. He now refers to his injury as the 0:01:45.685 --> 0:01:50.805 gift that keeps on taking Over fifteen years later, David 0:01:50.925 --> 0:01:54.605 has the use of only one arm, but as you'll 0:01:54.605 --> 0:01:59.805 hear in this conversation, he doesn't see himself as a victim. Life, 0:01:59.845 --> 0:02:03.485 he says, guarantees nothing. It's what you do with what 0:02:03.565 --> 0:02:07.525 you've got that counts, and David is doing a lot, 0:02:07.845 --> 0:02:11.245 from writing a novel to producing a documentary with his 0:02:11.285 --> 0:02:16.725 friend Daniel Radcliffe, hosting a podcast, advocating for disability rights, 0:02:16.845 --> 0:02:22.485 and yes, having the best sex of his life. This 0:02:22.565 --> 0:02:26.965 man truly has no filter and why should he. From 0:02:27.005 --> 0:02:30.885 the moment this conversation began, I was laughing because David 0:02:31.005 --> 0:02:34.685 Holmes is someone who brings a spark of silliness and 0:02:34.765 --> 0:02:43.085 honesty to every moment. Hello, Kay, I didn't realize that 0:02:43.165 --> 0:02:47.365 the extension of your skills had now spread to doing 0:02:47.445 --> 0:02:50.405 acting and a little falsetto. 0:02:51.245 --> 0:02:54.085 You'd be surprised what I've managed to achieve in my 0:02:54.205 --> 0:02:57.045 life despite the fact of the barriers that are in 0:02:57.085 --> 0:02:59.845 front of me. I've got very secret projects that I 0:02:59.885 --> 0:03:06.165 can't publicly announce, but it involves acting and really very much. 0:03:06.045 --> 0:03:09.925 So man, Yeah, well, you know, your talents not really 0:03:09.965 --> 0:03:14.165 that secret, given that you have written a book. You 0:03:14.245 --> 0:03:17.365 have written a book, The Boy Who Lived When Magic 0:03:17.405 --> 0:03:21.805 and Reality Collide My story, which is an extraordinary story, 0:03:22.405 --> 0:03:27.885 and a docco The Boy Who Lived. Now the journey, right, 0:03:28.885 --> 0:03:34.965 what a journey, an epic one, an odyssey really. But 0:03:35.205 --> 0:03:39.365 I've got to tell you I had an extraordinary day 0:03:39.405 --> 0:03:41.045 with you that, of course you on the other side 0:03:41.045 --> 0:03:43.605 of the world would have been unaware of. But I 0:03:43.685 --> 0:03:49.485 watched the documentary about you with my son. I've got 0:03:49.525 --> 0:03:54.925 three sons, like your mum. I've got three sons, and 0:03:55.045 --> 0:04:00.405 my number two son is seventeen. Yeah, Ok, the same 0:04:00.525 --> 0:04:04.165 age that you were when you started being the stunt 0:04:04.245 --> 0:04:08.725 double for Daniel Radcliffe in the Harry Potter movies. And 0:04:08.805 --> 0:04:12.685 so we were this dooco together and you know, with 0:04:12.805 --> 0:04:15.685 a seventeen year old, you just don't know a teenage boy, 0:04:15.725 --> 0:04:18.485 You don't know what they're thinking. He didn't peel off 0:04:18.525 --> 0:04:23.325 at any point during it. Yeah, he's stayed fixed with it. 0:04:23.725 --> 0:04:26.845 I mean we all were. It's extraordinary. And at the 0:04:27.045 --> 0:04:33.845 end he stood up and he went hmm, legend our 0:04:33.965 --> 0:04:35.485 blessed and walked out of the room. 0:04:35.845 --> 0:04:37.965 Oh, blessed. Yeah, that's whole. 0:04:38.805 --> 0:04:39.445 How's that? 0:04:40.325 --> 0:04:44.565 But to know that in a society where young men 0:04:45.005 --> 0:04:50.165 are trying to navigate what it is like masculinity and 0:04:50.205 --> 0:04:53.125 to be a man, to know that for your son 0:04:53.325 --> 0:04:57.445 at that moment there that I showed him certain aspects 0:04:57.565 --> 0:05:00.565 of my life and my journey through the documentary that 0:05:00.725 --> 0:05:02.365 might help him get a grip of that. 0:05:02.605 --> 0:05:03.685 What a gift day is. 0:05:04.685 --> 0:05:07.965 So I'm very grateful to share my story to the 0:05:08.045 --> 0:05:10.405 journey that I've had because if it hasn't knock on 0:05:10.445 --> 0:05:13.365 effect for so many others, then it's start a good thing. 0:05:13.485 --> 0:05:13.645 Right. 0:05:14.405 --> 0:05:18.725 Well, it's also very appealing, I think because because you're 0:05:18.765 --> 0:05:23.005 a stuntman, ye and outside of on a film set, 0:05:24.885 --> 0:05:28.205 aside from either movie, there's the movie stars. We get that, 0:05:28.965 --> 0:05:30.885 But then if you're going to go for who the 0:05:30.925 --> 0:05:35.245 next alpha men are on a film set, it's the stunties. 0:05:35.365 --> 0:05:36.685 Yeah, I believe it is. 0:05:36.805 --> 0:05:41.765 Yeah, I mean the director's assistant directors that we're all 0:05:42.005 --> 0:05:46.125 justling for, like our mark. 0:05:46.085 --> 0:05:47.925 On the creative experience. 0:05:48.565 --> 0:05:52.405 But some performers get to be the young sum heroes 0:05:52.645 --> 0:05:56.845 and tell the story with their physicality and to make 0:05:56.925 --> 0:06:00.085 the impossible possible, and for many years I did that, 0:06:00.405 --> 0:06:05.765 and then it's you know, it's part of who I 0:06:05.885 --> 0:06:09.125 was as a child, and it's part of who I 0:06:09.165 --> 0:06:14.325 am now as an adult. Despite the fact I'm now quadriplegic, 0:06:14.445 --> 0:06:16.725 I still perform stunts something last year I set my 0:06:16.765 --> 0:06:18.965 head on fire, right, and every day I get wonderful 0:06:19.005 --> 0:06:21.685 messages just like what you had with your son, where 0:06:21.725 --> 0:06:24.685 people saying this, you know, really helped me gain perspective 0:06:24.925 --> 0:06:27.885 and understanding on the journey that I'm on and some 0:06:27.965 --> 0:06:30.805 of the difficulty or the trauma that I've navigating. 0:06:30.965 --> 0:06:34.285 So well. It's such an interesting thing because you yourself, 0:06:34.365 --> 0:06:39.645 i'man aside from the accident and who physically you are 0:06:40.085 --> 0:06:45.445 compared to who you were, you know at the start. 0:06:46.085 --> 0:06:50.645 I think that there's many lessons that can be learnt, 0:06:50.885 --> 0:06:54.605 that can be extrapolated to different circumstances that aren't necessarily 0:06:54.645 --> 0:06:56.205 to do with physicality. 0:06:56.405 --> 0:06:59.725 Yeah, of course, yeah, yeah, life's hard for all of us. 0:07:01.165 --> 0:07:02.485 This life is hard. 0:07:02.845 --> 0:07:06.445 Broken neck or no broken neck, it's hot. We're given 0:07:06.485 --> 0:07:09.245 this lesson, like this gift, and then you have to 0:07:09.365 --> 0:07:12.245 understand it's a lesson of loss. I learned that lesson 0:07:12.285 --> 0:07:15.925 the hardest way at twenty five with my accident, and 0:07:16.285 --> 0:07:19.965 I continue to have to navigate that lesson now with 0:07:20.165 --> 0:07:24.685 changing in neurology, or elderly dogs that are just shitting 0:07:24.685 --> 0:07:28.925 everywhere in my house, or you know, seeing my parents' 0:07:28.965 --> 0:07:33.445 age and stuff like that. So it's I learned that 0:07:33.565 --> 0:07:36.805 lesson at twenty five and it made me make my 0:07:37.005 --> 0:07:39.285 peace with the facts. 0:07:39.445 --> 0:07:41.685 It teaches you gratude. All right. 0:07:41.805 --> 0:07:44.765 I am here today now where I'm going to be 0:07:44.885 --> 0:07:47.285 in ten years time in my body, I can't tell you. 0:07:47.325 --> 0:07:48.765 No one can tell you that. You can't tell me 0:07:48.805 --> 0:07:53.525 with yours. But with what I'm going through, with the changes, 0:07:53.605 --> 0:07:56.845 with the journey, with what I've lost, it forces me 0:07:57.005 --> 0:08:00.205 to be here now, to like take in the day 0:08:00.685 --> 0:08:04.005 and it's a really crappy gray day in England, but 0:08:04.805 --> 0:08:08.805 still the world presents gifts. Spring has happened, there's leaves 0:08:08.805 --> 0:08:11.445 on the true I've had a visit by a greenwood 0:08:11.445 --> 0:08:15.685 paper in my garden today. I've got I've made a 0:08:15.725 --> 0:08:19.445 really good show on the steam room. I've done toilet routine, 0:08:19.565 --> 0:08:22.725 which as a quadriplegic is very hard to navigate. Can 0:08:22.765 --> 0:08:24.405 I be really crude in this podcast? 0:08:24.645 --> 0:08:27.605 Please? You can be what however you are no filter. 0:08:28.045 --> 0:08:32.685 Yeah, no filter? Right, so are you ready for this strapping? Okay, So, 0:08:33.805 --> 0:08:36.405 as I go into detail in the book, I can't 0:08:37.605 --> 0:08:41.005 have control of my bower routine. Yes, so my routine 0:08:41.045 --> 0:08:45.165 involves in certain responsibitories in my house. Now I have 0:08:45.285 --> 0:08:47.925 no act to do that. So that means I've had 0:08:48.085 --> 0:08:50.405 more hands up my ass than the cast of the Muppets. 0:08:51.965 --> 0:08:55.605 So yeah, you soon learn to think. All right, that's 0:08:55.685 --> 0:08:58.685 just a process. That's what we got doing. Once that's done. 0:08:58.925 --> 0:09:02.285 At the start, it's horrifying, it's really bad, it's degrading, 0:09:02.365 --> 0:09:04.725 it's all of those things. And anyone who goes through 0:09:04.765 --> 0:09:08.125 medical issues will navigate this at some stage. 0:09:08.325 --> 0:09:10.565 And when you get older, you're going to navigate this. 0:09:11.845 --> 0:09:14.885 And there is a handing over of things that we 0:09:15.165 --> 0:09:18.285 consider to be innate sort of rights, like the right 0:09:18.325 --> 0:09:21.365 to autonomy or the right to privacy over our bodies. 0:09:21.645 --> 0:09:25.965 And of course you forfeited that in a really sudden way. 0:09:26.205 --> 0:09:26.445 Yeah. 0:09:26.605 --> 0:09:29.565 I always say to people, never neglect the fact you're 0:09:29.605 --> 0:09:32.725 sitting on a socially conscious asshole, because it tells you 0:09:32.765 --> 0:09:35.525 when it needs to part, and mine doesn't. So I've 0:09:35.525 --> 0:09:40.245 crapped myself everywhere top of Mountains film premieres. You name 0:09:40.325 --> 0:09:43.525 it at about accident, and it never gets easier, but 0:09:43.765 --> 0:09:48.085 if you can find the joy and humor after it, 0:09:48.085 --> 0:09:49.965 it gets a little bit more digestible. 0:09:50.285 --> 0:09:54.885 So I always just laugh at myself. Shit happens to us. 0:09:55.525 --> 0:09:57.725 So this accident that you refer to that will be 0:09:57.765 --> 0:10:00.645 discussing happen in two thousand and nine. So you've lived 0:10:01.405 --> 0:10:05.125 in this new incarnation of your body, yeah, for quite 0:10:05.125 --> 0:10:12.245 some time. But before then you describe yourself as arrogant 0:10:12.365 --> 0:10:14.885 and self centered and a bit of a knob. And 0:10:14.925 --> 0:10:17.485 so this was when you were like flying high as 0:10:17.525 --> 0:10:18.845 a Stundy. Yeah. 0:10:18.965 --> 0:10:22.565 The ego is so easy to creep in when your 0:10:23.685 --> 0:10:27.125 number one s on call sheet, working on the biggest 0:10:27.165 --> 0:10:32.285 kids franchise, driving a fast Mercedes, and you know, prowling 0:10:32.365 --> 0:10:34.005 for sexual partners. 0:10:34.045 --> 0:10:35.845 You know what I mean? I say prouding, that's not 0:10:36.325 --> 0:10:37.805 that's the work, you. 0:10:37.765 --> 0:10:40.805 Know, She's a different word. Yeah, but yes, you were 0:10:41.005 --> 0:10:45.285 enjoying the array of gifts that life has to offer. 0:10:45.525 --> 0:10:47.925 Yeah, and I had a lot, and I was enjoying 0:10:47.965 --> 0:10:50.765 a lot and whether if that was you know, sex, 0:10:50.845 --> 0:10:52.085 drugs and sausage rolls. 0:10:52.165 --> 0:10:53.485 I've consumed them all. 0:10:54.525 --> 0:10:59.365 And it's it was that was me then, and that 0:10:59.525 --> 0:11:02.845 was me at the height of where I was with 0:11:03.045 --> 0:11:06.925 the success that I was given. But that success wasn't 0:11:07.125 --> 0:11:11.485 just handed out for free. There were years of gymnastics 0:11:11.525 --> 0:11:15.285 and hurt and pain and turmoil and bullying that got 0:11:15.285 --> 0:11:17.925 me to that point of success. 0:11:18.605 --> 0:11:22.925 The bullying. The bullying is interesting. Was the bullying because 0:11:23.205 --> 0:11:24.005 of your height? 0:11:24.285 --> 0:11:27.245 Or yeah, man, you've been in society we screw small men, 0:11:27.685 --> 0:11:31.125 We give small men a bad wrapping life, and it's 0:11:31.165 --> 0:11:34.485 that we're off on us foot. But mac milligates it right. 0:11:34.845 --> 0:11:36.685 Why would you want to look down on people your 0:11:36.685 --> 0:11:40.165 whole life? Looking up to people is the way like 0:11:40.365 --> 0:11:45.925 aspiring looking up like never never being ashamed of your 0:11:46.165 --> 0:11:50.125 height or your stature, or your social position or your wealth, 0:11:50.685 --> 0:11:53.845 like because if you've got something to look up to, 0:11:53.925 --> 0:11:59.685 whether that's physically or mentally, it gives you aspirations for 0:11:59.885 --> 0:12:02.485 your life and it gives you a grounding to say, 0:12:03.165 --> 0:12:07.165 you know, I want to be there or I want 0:12:07.205 --> 0:12:09.725 to And I'm not saying like extended my legs and 0:12:09.765 --> 0:12:13.885 get taller. I'm saying right that the humbling experience of 0:12:14.005 --> 0:12:17.165 what it is to be smaller, to have people call 0:12:17.245 --> 0:12:19.645 you half prime and ditch and all that lot and 0:12:19.845 --> 0:12:24.005 some minute breaks. But for me, I learned to embrace 0:12:24.045 --> 0:12:27.125 it and then eventually use it, and it turned me 0:12:27.165 --> 0:12:30.605 into it very successful young man as a gymnast. 0:12:30.285 --> 0:12:33.085 Incredibly because you're are you five foot two? 0:12:33.645 --> 0:12:35.925 Yeah? Five foot two one in three quarters, but I 0:12:36.005 --> 0:12:41.245 take five foot right. Picking yourself up that extra each 0:12:41.285 --> 0:12:42.605 always makes a difference, you know. 0:12:44.965 --> 0:12:45.885 So I've heard. 0:12:46.085 --> 0:12:46.485 Yeah. 0:12:46.925 --> 0:12:50.565 But here's the thing with that turned out actually to 0:12:50.645 --> 0:12:55.125 be to your advantage because when you first met Daniel Radcliffe, 0:12:55.165 --> 0:12:58.445 he was eleven and it started filming the Harry Potter films. 0:12:58.925 --> 0:13:01.965 You were seventeen. But you could be a perfect stunt 0:13:02.005 --> 0:13:05.085 double for him because you had that physicality, not just 0:13:05.205 --> 0:13:06.405 that all of the kids. 0:13:06.445 --> 0:13:08.965 In the first two films, I'm the Hermione when the 0:13:09.005 --> 0:13:11.085 troll smashes through the bathroom doors. 0:13:11.485 --> 0:13:12.165 I am the. 0:13:12.245 --> 0:13:14.605 Ron sitting on the back of the horses. He gets 0:13:14.765 --> 0:13:18.445 hit on the chest piece. I am the Malfoy in 0:13:18.525 --> 0:13:21.285 the quidditch match, flying off with his broom. I am 0:13:21.325 --> 0:13:24.245 the Malfoy flying on the table. And Harry Potter two 0:13:24.805 --> 0:13:29.605 in the dueling sequence, there was I doubled pretty much 0:13:30.045 --> 0:13:33.045 most of the young cars Neville in the first two films, 0:13:33.045 --> 0:13:35.445 and then all of Dale grew up, and then Dan. 0:13:35.605 --> 0:13:39.485 Thankfully he's only grew to five foot five. So Harry 0:13:39.525 --> 0:13:42.285 lifts in my shoes. I could stay it's stunt double yeah. 0:13:42.325 --> 0:13:46.965 Yeah, right. And then you So during the course of 0:13:47.005 --> 0:13:50.245 those movies, you became incredibly close. 0:13:50.845 --> 0:13:52.525 Yeah, I was just pe teacher. 0:13:53.085 --> 0:13:53.285 Yeah. 0:13:53.405 --> 0:13:55.805 So twice three times a week he comes to the 0:13:55.805 --> 0:13:58.765 stunt department. We'd shut the doors and we do things 0:13:58.765 --> 0:14:01.805 that were giving Insurance Company an absolute heart attack. I'd 0:14:01.885 --> 0:14:04.285 get him doing some sorts off and trampoline, jumping off 0:14:04.285 --> 0:14:09.325 a pork cabin, swinging swords around, doing judo, keeping fit, exercise. 0:14:10.605 --> 0:14:13.325 It was all part of being a gymnast growing up, 0:14:13.445 --> 0:14:18.605 having coaches in plant, their coaching and their physical gifts 0:14:18.645 --> 0:14:22.045 to me, learning how to be a good gymnast. I 0:14:22.085 --> 0:14:24.325 was able to just do that for Dank, and now 0:14:24.365 --> 0:14:27.085 whenever I see his body in a film or a 0:14:27.085 --> 0:14:30.365 TV program, or if I see him do something that's 0:14:30.725 --> 0:14:33.885 a sun element, I'm always very proud that I contributed 0:14:34.045 --> 0:14:37.725 to that, to the man that he is on camera now. 0:14:37.845 --> 0:14:40.805 And I'd like to say, and I'm sure I'm not overreaching. 0:14:41.325 --> 0:14:43.645 I'm sure he would say that I contributed to the 0:14:43.685 --> 0:14:46.445 man that he is in life as well, which. 0:14:46.285 --> 0:14:48.605 Is well, he does say that, Yeah. 0:14:48.445 --> 0:14:51.805 It's a good things. You got to watch him grow 0:14:51.885 --> 0:14:55.005 up on the camera. I got to watch him grow 0:14:55.325 --> 0:14:59.125 as a human being, and I could not be proud 0:14:59.165 --> 0:15:02.365 of who he is, whether that is his willingness to 0:15:02.405 --> 0:15:05.765 stand up for what he believes in over certain issues, 0:15:06.085 --> 0:15:10.005 or seeing him as a younger father and how the 0:15:10.125 --> 0:15:13.765 joy that brings to his life. He's a great human 0:15:13.805 --> 0:15:17.365 being and will sacrifice his life to make sure other 0:15:17.405 --> 0:15:21.085 people stay employed. You know, Like recently he was on 0:15:21.125 --> 0:15:24.285 a Broadway show and it was going to close down 0:15:24.565 --> 0:15:27.645 and he's looking around and if he was to leave 0:15:27.805 --> 0:15:32.085 his contract. They asked for an extension, and he looked 0:15:32.125 --> 0:15:34.605 around and he's like, well, if I don't do the extension, 0:15:35.045 --> 0:15:38.645 then all these people become unemployed. So he went back 0:15:38.685 --> 0:15:42.245 and he'd done eight extra shows a week for three months. 0:15:42.805 --> 0:15:48.525 You know, Like that's commitment to others, not commitment to himself. 0:15:48.725 --> 0:15:50.405 So that's the mark of who he is. 0:15:50.725 --> 0:15:55.485 And you know him very well because the reading your book, 0:15:55.725 --> 0:16:00.245 it really imparted a lovely sense of course, we all 0:16:00.285 --> 0:16:03.085 know the Harry Potter movies. But for you guys, it 0:16:03.165 --> 0:16:06.765 was almost like an annual summer camp. Yeah, because you 0:16:06.965 --> 0:16:09.325 saw each other every year for ten years. 0:16:09.885 --> 0:16:12.725 Yeah, pretty much. There was the longest break between the 0:16:12.765 --> 0:16:13.965 films was maybe. 0:16:13.725 --> 0:16:18.605 Four arms in total, So we were always interacting with 0:16:18.645 --> 0:16:21.805 each other and we were able to because it was 0:16:22.245 --> 0:16:26.365 Hogwarts Express was a runaway train after the second film. 0:16:25.245 --> 0:16:27.805 It was just massive. 0:16:28.285 --> 0:16:32.845 And I think keeping the continuity of crew helps keep 0:16:32.965 --> 0:16:38.525 those young adults in an environment where they felt safe 0:16:38.645 --> 0:16:43.645 to explore becoming better actors, that felt safe to grow 0:16:43.765 --> 0:16:46.965 up without the prime eyes. And I'm a bit nervous 0:16:47.005 --> 0:16:49.405 because they're redoing it now, and then the young cast 0:16:49.445 --> 0:16:52.845 members are also now exposed to social media and the 0:16:52.925 --> 0:16:56.205 damage that that is doing to our society. Now. 0:16:56.805 --> 0:16:59.085 I use it as a tool like it's a worktool, 0:16:59.285 --> 0:16:59.885 you know what I mean. 0:17:00.245 --> 0:17:04.125 I use it to help promote an image of disability 0:17:04.165 --> 0:17:07.005 that doesn't frame us as a victive. For young people 0:17:07.045 --> 0:17:09.765 who are very impressionable that trying to work out who 0:17:09.805 --> 0:17:12.445 they are. I think it's very damaging to be able 0:17:12.485 --> 0:17:14.325 to click a button and put a filter on and 0:17:14.405 --> 0:17:15.085 change your face. 0:17:17.125 --> 0:17:20.805 After this short break, David tells me what he remembers 0:17:20.885 --> 0:17:27.765 about the day of his accident. Don't go anywhere well, interestingly, 0:17:27.885 --> 0:17:34.525 because your physical body was your ultimate work tool, and 0:17:34.565 --> 0:17:39.325 you sustained so many injuries as stunties do in the 0:17:39.405 --> 0:17:44.085 course of your work. Before I'm going to call it 0:17:44.285 --> 0:17:46.765 a fateful day. How do you think of that day 0:17:46.885 --> 0:17:51.245 in two thousand and nine, You know, the day that sent. 0:17:51.045 --> 0:17:53.045 Me down with different roads, that put me on a 0:17:53.085 --> 0:17:57.285 different path. And it's a day that's hard. You know, 0:17:57.725 --> 0:18:01.325 every time the analysty comes around, it's always that very 0:18:01.405 --> 0:18:02.605 soon I'm going to be in a. 0:18:02.605 --> 0:18:05.525 Wheelchair longer than i was on legs, you know, that's. 0:18:05.245 --> 0:18:09.605 Always or when look, you know, time passing is hard, 0:18:09.645 --> 0:18:12.085 and I try to enjoy the passing of time as 0:18:12.125 --> 0:18:15.725 best I can. But at the same time, when you're 0:18:15.765 --> 0:18:20.165 going through physical changes like I am, it is some 0:18:20.285 --> 0:18:23.165 of those important data are quite difficult to navigate. 0:18:23.485 --> 0:18:26.285 When is when is the anniversary days? 0:18:26.405 --> 0:18:28.165 Right towards the end of January. 0:18:28.245 --> 0:18:32.445 I don't say it because yes, yeah, funny enough, it's 0:18:32.965 --> 0:18:37.405 just certain aspects of my life, like Wikipedia's got my 0:18:37.445 --> 0:18:38.965 birthday wrong and stuff like that. 0:18:39.205 --> 0:18:41.845 It puts me down as forty three. I'm actually forty one. 0:18:42.925 --> 0:18:45.365 So and also now I'm a public person. 0:18:45.885 --> 0:18:48.245 There is just a few vula benities that are trying 0:18:48.245 --> 0:18:49.765 to protect myself from. 0:18:49.925 --> 0:18:54.565 And how do you recall the events of that day. 0:18:55.645 --> 0:18:58.085 Fully conscious throughout the whole thing? I remember it. I 0:18:58.125 --> 0:18:58.765 know the noise. 0:18:59.405 --> 0:19:02.565 What noise makes when your neck breaks, I know is 0:19:02.605 --> 0:19:06.365 that I recover of breath. I sometimes relimit with posed 0:19:06.405 --> 0:19:09.005 to make stress when a falling asleep. So funny enough, 0:19:09.005 --> 0:19:12.685 I listen to podcasts when I'm falling asleep. So yeah, 0:19:12.965 --> 0:19:15.565 that was something that I learned in hospital as I'm 0:19:15.685 --> 0:19:19.525 slipping into sleep that I can go for pts and 0:19:19.565 --> 0:19:22.965 relive that moment, like we live the plug socket that 0:19:23.125 --> 0:19:25.765 was looking at to fix my eyeline and you know 0:19:25.845 --> 0:19:27.125 the noise of the wire. 0:19:26.925 --> 0:19:27.885 Pulling and all that lot. 0:19:28.005 --> 0:19:32.445 So I just find a coping strategy and know how 0:19:32.445 --> 0:19:33.845 to use it. 0:19:33.285 --> 0:19:36.805 For those who don't know, you were doing a stunt 0:19:37.245 --> 0:19:41.885 that involved you being on a wire and then fired 0:19:42.245 --> 0:19:45.285 pulled rapidly towards the wall, and you'd rehearsed at the 0:19:45.365 --> 0:19:45.965 day before. 0:19:46.525 --> 0:19:49.005 Yeah you got it. Yeah, so we was doing Harry 0:19:49.325 --> 0:19:52.365 battling the Guini and for the snake. 0:19:52.485 --> 0:19:56.325 Yeah, so as we as we should have been doing 0:19:57.005 --> 0:20:00.125 as some performers. In the Harry Potter series, we saw 0:20:00.165 --> 0:20:03.325 so many spelled reactions that were used by a wire 0:20:03.525 --> 0:20:05.445 and it's our job to always try and push the 0:20:05.445 --> 0:20:08.685 boundaries of the action. And as the film's got more 0:20:08.765 --> 0:20:13.045 intense and more serious and what, we were always trying 0:20:13.085 --> 0:20:16.285 to make the spells a bit more serious, reactive, speedy 0:20:16.285 --> 0:20:17.085 out and all that lot. 0:20:17.365 --> 0:20:21.885 And you succeeded, by the way, because those movies, I 0:20:21.925 --> 0:20:27.765 think changed changed the way movie making is told with 0:20:27.885 --> 0:20:30.205 any element of magic. 0:20:30.805 --> 0:20:36.965 Very few franchises continue to hold their own as they 0:20:37.205 --> 0:20:40.725 progress through each different film, and Harry Pottery is one 0:20:40.765 --> 0:20:41.445 of those things. 0:20:42.165 --> 0:20:43.045 So yeah, I was. 0:20:43.125 --> 0:20:45.885 Raised the day before, and then the suggestion was made 0:20:46.005 --> 0:20:49.565 short in the distance and to put a slack line 0:20:49.685 --> 0:20:51.965 in so the snatch off the floor was too quick. 0:20:53.565 --> 0:20:57.165 That was two vital mistakes that sent me into a 0:20:57.245 --> 0:21:01.325 wall SINNI mile an hour on my chest folding into 0:21:01.365 --> 0:21:05.685 my nose that my spinalcle separated at the C six 0:21:05.765 --> 0:21:08.325 c cent vertebrae, just at the bottom of your neck 0:21:08.405 --> 0:21:12.565 before your thought rack starts. And I was instantly paralyzed 0:21:12.565 --> 0:21:14.885 from that moment. And I knew that I'd done it. 0:21:15.245 --> 0:21:17.765 I knew what a boken. Brain felt like and I 0:21:17.805 --> 0:21:21.525 felt my whole body, and once I'd recovered my breath, 0:21:22.405 --> 0:21:28.125 I kept consciousness, made some very good, smart suggestions about 0:21:29.285 --> 0:21:31.925 making sure a camera was safe, that I had the 0:21:31.965 --> 0:21:34.645 footage because I knew Health and Safety would have to 0:21:34.685 --> 0:21:39.245 review that, and then told my best mates don't call 0:21:39.285 --> 0:21:43.765 my mum to worry her, and then slipped into unconsciousness. 0:21:44.525 --> 0:21:46.885 And then you come back to consciousness again. And then 0:21:46.965 --> 0:21:49.365 it was the full rig more of a slow ambulance, 0:21:49.485 --> 0:21:51.845 and I always gutted. I was then putting a helicopter, 0:21:51.885 --> 0:21:56.205 you know, but yeah, the rigmar of snow ambulance, one 0:21:56.245 --> 0:21:58.845 hospital and then onto the spinal lord. And then a 0:21:58.885 --> 0:22:01.445 couple of days later, I woke up and some nurse 0:22:01.565 --> 0:22:04.325 was rolling me over, saying you need to evacuate out 0:22:04.405 --> 0:22:04.885 your bows. 0:22:04.965 --> 0:22:08.245 And then I realized I don't fill my arn, you know. 0:22:08.365 --> 0:22:10.005 When she was telling me what you doing, I was. 0:22:10.005 --> 0:22:13.525 Like, ah, and I'll feel that so and then you 0:22:13.845 --> 0:22:18.325 have to learn to rebuild your up. And it's when 0:22:18.525 --> 0:22:22.205 everything's taken away like that. It starts from scratch, you know, 0:22:22.405 --> 0:22:25.565 you know, you're stripped back to how you are as Otoba, 0:22:26.085 --> 0:22:29.285 so vulnerable, so needy, so you know, people needed to 0:22:29.285 --> 0:22:32.205 feed me, people needed to dress me, wash me, you 0:22:32.325 --> 0:22:36.605 name it. So and then grueling rehabilitation. And I'm thankful 0:22:36.645 --> 0:22:40.925 for the gifts of gymnastics and my physical prowess to 0:22:41.045 --> 0:22:45.045 understand that nothing's gained without hard work. So I worked 0:22:45.205 --> 0:22:49.445 tirelessly at the hospital to try and regain as much 0:22:49.565 --> 0:22:54.205 function as possible above my level injury. And then just 0:22:54.245 --> 0:22:57.805 before discharge, I had developed a spinal series, which is 0:22:57.845 --> 0:23:00.805 why I'm going through changes now, which. 0:23:00.765 --> 0:23:02.645 Which is apparently quite rare. 0:23:02.845 --> 0:23:05.805 Very rare, Yeah, very rare, right in the beginning. So 0:23:05.925 --> 0:23:10.165 it's assists within this final called that mine actually board 0:23:10.285 --> 0:23:12.885 up to the C one vertebrae because it was it 0:23:12.965 --> 0:23:15.325 was just growing so quick, and that's the problem with 0:23:15.525 --> 0:23:18.965 where I was so healthy and fear so many white 0:23:18.965 --> 0:23:21.965 blood cells went to the area to sort the bruising out, 0:23:22.325 --> 0:23:25.965 and they were they were trapped in so it was 0:23:26.365 --> 0:23:29.685 a it was one of those things that doctor says, 0:23:29.685 --> 0:23:31.565 if you don't go surging, now you're going to die. 0:23:31.765 --> 0:23:34.885 It's going to stop your breathing. So big surgery, and 0:23:34.885 --> 0:23:37.045 then I had to redo my rehabilitation again. 0:23:37.125 --> 0:23:40.445 So bad hard luck on top of bad hard luck. 0:23:40.725 --> 0:23:44.085