'Sad step backward' for boy thrown from Tate Modern balcony as family give heartbreaking update
The recovery of a boy who was thrown from the 10th floor of the Tate Modern has taken a "sad step back" his family have said as they attempt to raise further funds for his rehabilitation.
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The little boy had been on holiday in London with his family from France when he was attacked by 17-year-old Jonty Bravery in 2019.
The child, who was six at the time of the attack in 2019, survived the 30m fall but suffered life-changing injuries, including a bleed on the brain and broken bones.
His attacker, autistic teenager Jonty Bravery, is serving a minimum 15-year jail term for his attempt to murder the boy.
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His parents revealed on Tuesday that the recovery of their "little knight" has been "longer and more difficult than expected" after an operation in January.
"He is still hospitalised in a rehabilitation centre because he is still unable to walk," they said in the update posted to a GoFundMe page set up by a British supporter of the family.
"He has only been able to have weekend leave for the past three weeks, in a wheelchair, which frustrates him greatly: it feels like a sad step backward."
It comes after the family shared a more positive update back in October about the little boy's recovery, revealing he had reached his "long set" goal of being able to run, jump and swim once more.
In the latest post the family said he was eager to walk again and resume a normal life outside of the rehabilitation centre "even if this normal life means spending half his time in treatment and only the other half at school."
They have "finally" discovered a school appropriate for his needs, they added, which he visited prior to the operation.
"Our little knight, as courageous as ever, continues to fight and train, and we will remain by his side to support him no matter what," the family continued.
The boy's attacker Jonty Bravery had been living in supported accommodation but was out without supervision when he committed the act.
The court later heard he planned to choose and kill someone.
Bravery, now 24, admitted attempted murder and was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 15 years.
He recently received another prison sentence earlier this year and was jailed for 16 weeks after attacking two nurses in Broadmoor, a psychiatric hospital in Berkshire, in September 2024.
He received a 14-week jail sentence after assaulting staff in the same hospital in 2020.