A boy who was thrown from the 10th floor of Tate Modern in London six years ago can now run and swim limited distances, his family has revealed.
The unnamed French boy, who his parents call their “little knight”, suffered life-changing injuries in the attack in August 2019. Jonty Bravery is serving a minimum 15-year jail term for his attempt to murder the boy.
As a six-year-old on holiday with his parents, the boy survived the 30-metre fall, but suffered severe injuries including bleeding on the brain and broken bones. It had been feared he would be reliant on a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
But in a new upbeat progress report on his recovery, his family detailed how much the 12-year-old can now move unaided.
They said: “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.
“It’s different, only over a few metres or a very small height, but it’s an incredible achievement. We are happy that he has been able to reach this stage of progress before his next operation.”
The procedure early next year will leave him immobilised for two months, the family said. Doctors have told him he should regain more movement after the treatment.
“The surgeon is relying on all the progress he has made so far to reassure him of the future benefits and how much he will be able to do even better afterward,” the family said.
They said their “preteen” son’s memory is still limited but improving as he gains “cognitive endurance”. This summer he enjoyed a holiday in the mountains with other children who did not speak French. “Our son was able to work on his English and play French teacher a little,” his parents said.
They said a psychomotor therapist has worked with the boy to help him stop tensing up the left side of his body, which was causing him pain. They said the boy also needs 10 separate rehabilitation sessions each week.
The family said they are trying to find a new school for their son that will allow him to do all the subjects in the curriculum and still have time for these therapy sessions.
They added that this “means that we will have to move again soon so that our son maintains his chances of progress”.
A fundraising page created after the attack has so far raised more than £477,000.
