Boy thrown from Tate Modern viewing platform starts to walk again
1 December 2020, 12:07
A French boy who was thrown from the 10th floor balcony at London's Tate Modern last year has started to walk again with the help of a cane.
The child's family say his condition has improved, but that his memory is still greatly affected by the injuries he suffered.
His family said he has had his medication lowered, is feeling less pain and is trying to sing, more than a year after teenager Jonty Bravery threw him from the 10th-storey balcony.
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 his native France, the boy's family described how his condition has improved.
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.
"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!"
