Gallery plunge victim, 7, can now stand alone: Family of boy who was thrown from tenth floor balcony at Tate Modern say he is ‘adapting wonderfully’ to new rehabilitation unit
- The boy’s family said he is ‘adapting wonderfully’ to a new rehabilitation centre
- The child was left in a wheelchair after being thrown from a balcony last year
- His injuries included fractures to spine, legs and arms – and a bleed to the brain
The young boy thrown from a tenth floor balcony at the Tate Modern gallery has now recovered enough to stand unaided, his family revealed yesterday.
The child was six at the time of the horrific attempted murder in August last year, visiting London with his family from France.
Jonty Bravery was jailed for life for attempted murder when he threw a six-year-old boy from the Tate Modern viewing gantry
Falling head-first and landing on a fifth-floor balcony, his catastrophic injuries included fractures to his spine, legs and arms – and a bleed to the brain, leaving him in a wheelchair.
The boy had been targeted by an autistic 17-year-old in council care, Jonty Bravery, who months earlier had told workers he planned to ‘kill’ someone by ‘pushing [them] off’ a tall building.
Yesterday, the family of the boy now aged seven told a fund-raiser that he is ‘adapting wonderfully’ to a new rehabilitation centre and had started hippotherapy – physiotherapy with the aid of a horse.
They said this had ‘cheered him up’, adding: ‘We are already seeing new progress: he can at last stand on his legs without any help or support!’
The comments were posted on a GoFundMe page set up to cover medical costs, which has raised more than £250,000.
In June, Bravery, now 18, was jailed for at least 15 years for the boy’s attempted murder.
The family member of the victim added that he was still unable to walk but had improved in other areas, including his memory and eating.
‘At the moment, we are still far from home, but we have come close enough that our son’s friends can come and visit him more often, as well as our family,’ they said.
The statement added that the coronavirus lockdown had been ‘hard’ on the family, but they were impressed by the new hospital’s facilities.
‘We will keep you posted on the progress of our little knight,’ they added. ‘A huge thank you to all of you for making these changes possible with your support.’
Emergency crews attending a scene at the Tate Modern art gallery on August 4, 2019
A month after the attack the boy was able to return to France where he is currently being cared for.
Bravery’s sentencing hearing heard how he had been captured on CCTV following young children and looking over the railings at the central London gallery, before he ‘scooped’ the boy up, ‘carried him straight to the railings and threw him over.’
The teenager was in the care of Hammersmith and Fulham council, but had been allowed to visit central London unsupervised.
Sentencing him at the Old Bailey, Mrs Justice McGowan said he had gone out intending to kill, adding: ‘What you did on the day of this offence proves you are a grave danger to the public. You planned this and appeared to revel in the notoriety.’