Boy, seven, who was left fighting for life after being thrown from the Tate Modern viewing platform is beginning to walk again with the aid of a frame, his family reveal
- Seven-year-old French boy was thrown from 10th floor of the Tate Modern
- He has started to walk with the help of a cane, his family has revealed
- It comes more than a year after teenager Jonty Bravery threw him from balcony
- Bravery, now 19, is serving a 15-year prison sentence for attempted murder
A seven-year-old boy who was thrown 100ft from the viewing platform of the Tate Modern has started to walk with the help of a cane, his family have revealed.
The French boy, who was on holiday with his parents in London in August of last year, survived the fall from the 10th-storey balcony but suffered life-changing injuries, including a bleed on the brain and multiple broken bones.
He has had his medication lowered, is feeling less pain and is now trying to sing – more than a year after he was thrown by teenager Jonty Bravery.
Bravery, who is now 19, is serving a 15-year prison sentence for attempted murder.
In a statement updating well-wishers about the seven-year-old victim’s progress as he continues his recovery in France, the boy’s family described how his condition has improved.
The French boy has had his medication lowered, is feeling less pain and is now trying to sing, more than a year after teenager Jonty Bravery threw him from the 10th-storey balcony. Pictured, emergency crews attending a scene at the Tate Modern art gallery on August 4, 2019
Jonty Bravery, who is now 19, is serving a 15-year prison sentence for attempted murder
They said he is no longer allowed to go home on weekends, so family members spend seven days a week in hospital, adding that spending every night there ‘is very tiring because of the noise, and also very disturbing’.
The statement says: ‘Our son’s memory is once again greatly affected. He no longer remembers what he did that day or what day it is.
‘Despite everything, he continues to make efforts and progress: he begins to walk with a tetrapod cane while we hold him by the back of the coat for balance.
‘He also has less pain, so the doctors were able to lower his medication. He tries to do more and more things with his left arm like holding his tube of toothpaste or his glasses case to close it.
In a statement updating well-wishers about the seven-year-old victim’s progress as he continues his recovery in France, the boy’s family described how his condition has improved
The French boy, who was on holiday with his parents in London in August of last year, survived the fall from the 10-storey balcony, but suffered life-changing injuries
‘He continues to recover his breath. He still speaks very slowly, but now speaks word by word and no longer syllable by syllable.
‘He tries to sing and make up songs with rhymes. He was able to start using the blowpipe with the rehabilitators to continue improving his breathing.’
The family of the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said they are ‘impatiently awaiting’ the return of weekend leaves and visits because he misses his grandparents and his friends.
In September, the family announced the boy could stand unaided, telling well-wishers in a statement: ‘We are already seeing new progress: he can at last stand on his legs without any help or support!’