Four years after being left in intensive care when he was thrown from the 10th floor of the Tate Modern, a young French boy is defying the odds — now swimming, running and jumping as he continues his remarkable recovery.
The child, then six years old, fell around 30 metres and suffered life-threatening injuries after being attacked by teenager Jonty Bravery at the world-famous London gallery four years ago.
Affectionately known to his family as “notre petit chevalier” (“our little knight”), the boy had been visiting the UK with his parents when he was assaulted. He sustained a bleed on the brain and multiple broken bones in the fall.
Bravery, who has autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder, was living in supported accommodation at the time but had been allowed to go out unsupervised.
The court heard that he had planned to kill someone at random and spent more than 15 minutes observing potential victims before targeting the child, who had briefly moved away from his parents.
Bravery, then 17, from west London, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was jailed for 15 years in 2020.
A GoFundMe page set up to support the boy has now raised £470,000 — more than double its original target.
In a recent update, his family said: “Back home, he was also able to practice on his tricycle, always with his dad for his safety.
“Our son also continues to gain cognitive endurance. His memory skills are still very limited, but they are functional and still improving, so he is acquiring a general knowledge at his own pace, which increasingly allows him to be included with other children.
“Today, our pre-teen (we have to face the facts, he’s not a little boy anymore) has understood that he needs to give himself breaks; we need to remind him less.
“Finally, our little knight had long set himself the goal of being able to run, jump, and swim again. He can’t do it like other children his age, of course, but we can no longer describe what he does in any other way than by saying it’s running, jumping, and swimming.”
The boy’s family also said he is due to undergo another operation in early 2026 to aid his recovery and help ease his pain.
London nurse Vicky Diplacto, whose brother was paralysed after an accident overseas, set up the GoFundMe appeal to help.
