Their friendship was unlikely because Philippe, who is the second son of a French duke, was born into a life of great wealth and privilege. Abdel was a career criminal from Algeria who had immigrated to France and had only applied for the job of Philippe’s carer so that he could keep claiming his income support. He was, according to Philippe, a short man with a square face who was “intolerable, vain and arrogant”. But, as Philippe explains to me as we sit in his beautiful modernist villa in Essaouira, Morocco – “at the end of the world” – he spotted something in Abdel that others could not see. His sweet craziness. “He didn’t feel sorry for me – he was irreverent, cheeky and had an outrageous sense of humour. I suddenly found I was enjoying life again, feeling like I didn’t know what was coming next.

Sep 5, 2012 - The second thing you notice about Philippe Pozzo di Borgo is his smile – it is engaging and generous. The first is his wheelchair.

“Nothing stopped this guy. I knew he wouldn’t flinch and could take the initiative.” He had interviewed about 90 people and knew as soon as he met Abdel that: “This is the guy I need. I don’t give a damn that he is out of jail.

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I needed him. And he became a friend afterwards.” As well as sharing a sense of humour, they were both on the margins of society – a disabled man and a criminal.

That, he thinks, explains why they came to depend on each other, enrich each other’s lives and bridge the race and class divide.

Koch, for his part, was a daredevil from an early age. Now 24, he started gymnastics at six, and later on there was hardly a sport or outdoor activity he hadn't tried, including bungee jumping. Koch achieved fame in Germany for all the wrong reasons on Dec. During an appearance on the hit German game show called 'Wetten, dass?' , in which contestents perform various outrageous stunts, Koch had planned to jump over five cars driving towards him using Poweriser jumping stilts. On live television, he failed, smashing into the roof of one of the cars, which was being driven by his father, and landing awkwardly.

He has been paralyzed from the neck down since then. Hard Time Saying No The accident came just as Koch had figured out what he wanted to do with his life. He had been accepted by the prestigious University of Music, Drama and Media in the northern German city of Hanover.

The bet that he had been negotiating with the ZDF television network for months suddenly became less important to him, Koch writes in his book 'Zwei Leben' (Two Lives). Nevertheless, he says, he didn't want to withdraw from the show at the last minute. He doesn't like conflict, he adds, and has a hard time saying no. Both men are so-called tetraplegics, which means that their arms and legs are paralyzed. They can only move their heads, and even that range of motion is limited.

Koch also retains some control over his right hand. It's one of the most severe forms of paralysis. When the two men, in their wheelchairs, are returning to their hotel rooms after dinner, they engage in a duel of politeness in front of the elevator. There is only room for one wheelchair in the elevator, and each of them insists that other one go first. Finally, Koch puts an end to the standoff by driving his electric wheelchair toward Pozzo di Borgo's wheelchair and giving it a small nudge. 'We're tired,' Pozzo di Borgo says the next morning, as he is being pushed into the room where the interview is taking place.

Koch also complains of tiredness. As is so often the case, both men spent a painful night and had difficulty sleeping. 'Let's start quickly and take advantage of the time,' says Pozzo di Borgo. The wheelchairs are positioned so that they can both look at each other comfortably without having to turn their heads too much to the side. A French interpreter is sitting next to them.

'You never know how long our bodies will play along,' says Pozzo di Borgo. 'In that respect, we tetraplegics are unpredictable,' he adds with a smile. Koch, did you like the film 'The Intouchables?' Koch: Yes, of course. But that could also be because I can relate to the subject matter, at least indirectly. SPIEGEL: Does the film paint a realistic picture of life as a tetraplegic?