Daniel Radcliffe's stunt double, who was left paralysed after a devastating accident on set, has opened up about his 'phenomenal' relationship.
David Holmes' life was changed forever in 2009 during the filming of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 when he broke his neck after a stunt went wrong.
The former gymnast was shooting a 'jerk-back' sequence for a scene involving a fight with Lord Voldemort's loyal pet snake, Nagini, when horror struck.
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Holmes was left paralysed from the chest down following the accident, while he has limited movement in his arms and hands.
His condition has been complicated further by a cyst which has grown on his spinal cord, contributing to his continuing decline in what little mobility he has left.
But despite all of this, Holmes is inspiringly positive about his circumstances, as demonstrated in his recent comments during an appearance on Mamamia’s No Filter podcast.
'It teaches you gratitude'
"Life's hard for all of us," he said. "Broken neck or no broken neck, it's hard. We're given that lesson, like this gift, and then you have to understand it's a lesson of loss.
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"I learned that lesson the hardest way at 25 with my accident and I continue to have to navigate that lesson now... and it made me make my peace with the facts. It teaches you gratitude.
"Where I'm going to be in 10 years time in my body - I can't tell you. No one can tell you that. But with what I'm going through, with the changes, with the journey, with what I've lost, it forces me to be here now, to take in the day."
Holmes did admit that living with a spinal cord injury means his 'dignity' has flown out the window though, given that he relies on people to help him complete everyday tasks.
But thankfully, he's got someone to laugh through the awkwardness with - as he met his 'beautiful' partner Rosie in 2022.
He explained that she has 'less function' than he has, as she was left severely disabled as a result of a car crash at the age of 19.
Finding love
Holmes said Rosie is a C4 quadriplegic, which means her spinal cord injury resulted in the paralysis of all four limbs.
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"We don't just connect over our injuries, we connect over our love for each other and our shared experience of being loved by great families and friends and committed care teams," the stuntman said.
Holmes explained that they had met after he rented a property she owns in Spain - and their email exchanges about his requirements quickly turned into them sharing friendly voice notes.
He then invited her to stay at his 'smart home' in London, where 'all the doors are controlled, all the lights are controlled, the TV - everything - by my voice'.
"I'm very very independent in this property," Holmes said of his pad in the UK capital. "To the degree that I'm probably more able in this environment than most people that are able-bodied.
"Just because I know how to navigate it and control it with the technology.
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"I wanted her to incorporate those things in [Rosie's] life because I know what it does for me - I would want every person living with a spinal cord injury to have an environment like this."
'What we can feel is phenomenal'
Holmes soon won her over with some seriously smooth talking, and the rest is history.
He went on to discuss how they have been able to 'achieve connection' in the bedroom, 'despite what we can't feel'.
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"What we can feel is phenomenal," Holmes said. "It takes a team of people for us to have a cuddle, a kiss together. But it makes it mean more when we have to work so hard for it.
"You know, our shared life experience, when we go on holiday together, it means more because we have to work harder for it.
"Then, you know, every orgasm that we both give each other, it means more because we're having an orgasm below our level of injury - something that most people say is unachievable. I'm like, no, no, no, I don't accept that reality.
"I'm a prime numbers man - I ain't happy until she's had at least 11, maybe 30."
Things don't always go to plan
However, Holmes did admit that sometimes things don't go smoothly when he and Rosie get it on, such as one occasion during a trip to Thailand two years ago.
"We both got hoisted on a couch, we're watching a film together," he recalled. "We've already had our first kiss. We're sitting on the couch, and we use our phones to call people - we have to use voice control to ask someone to come and help us."
The pair began to get a bit frisky, only to realise half an hour later that both of their phones had slid down the sofa cushions - meaning that they were 'stuck'.
"We were laughing about it," Holmes said. "I'm stuck, so we're going like, 'Hey Siri!' And it's not hearing us because it's smothered in the cushions."
"I'm breathing through her never regions like a scuba diver, while simultaneously trying to shout from my phone," Holmes laughed.
"We were stuck there for like 45 minutes before just one of our caregivers just opened the door upstairs and were like, 'You guys all right?' And they come down and rescue me.
"We find ourselves in situations like that all the time. Now we can either make light of it and embrace it as a comedic moment, or we can let it really break us down and dehumanise us.
"And I refuse to not find s**t funny, because everything in life is laughable."
Topics: Harry Potter, Health, TV and Film, Sex and Relationships
Olivia Burke