A boy thrown from the viewing balcony in the Tate Modern art gallery has a “smile back on his face” after being discharged from hospital, his family have said.
The French youngster, who name remains undisclosed for privacy reasons, was six when he was badly hurt in an attack by then teenager Jonty Bravery at the London attraction on August ۴ ۲۰۱۹.
The child, who was on holiday with his parents, survived a ۳۰-metre (۱۰۰ft) fall but suffered life-changing injuries, including a bleed on the brain and multiple broken bones.
Almost seven years on from the incident, his family, who call him “notre petit chevalier” (our little knight) reported via an update on a GoFundMe page that he was able to return to school briefly before the summer holidays.
They said: “We wanted to let you know that our little knight has finally left the hospital!
“His hospital stay was kept as short as possible because, despite our daily presence and encouragement, our son was becoming deeply disheartened and kept asking when he could go back to class and see his friends.
“It was a great joy for him to return to school shortly before the summer holidays; since the lessons were well-tailored to his needs and challenges, he was able to start learning again, and reuniting with his teachers and classmates put a smile back on his face.”
In April this year, his family reported that his recovery had taken a “sad step backwards”, but this newest message appeared to be a lot more positive.
The GoFundMe page was set up by nurse Vicky Diplacto, from Surrey, whose own brother was paralysed in an incident overseas.
The crowd-funding initiative, which aims to cover the medical costs of the injured French boy’s family, has so far raised more than £۵۰۰,۰۰۰.
The boy continues to undergo intensive rehabilitation, including physiotherapy, speech therapy and neuropsychology.
To celebrate the end of his hospital treatment, his family are treating him to a tandem paragliding flight, and a seaside getaway with friends.
He also plans to resume his adaptive swimming lessons along with maths tutoring to catch up on the school he has missed.
His family said: “It will certainly be a busy summer. We are going to try to fully recharge his batteries (and our own) before the start of the school year, and to get back to a family routine as normal as possible.”
Bravery, now ۲۴, was in supported accommodation at the time of the attack but allowed out unsupervised.
He intended to select and kill someone, a court was later told.
Bravery, who was ۱۷ at the time, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of ۱۵ years.
He was jailed for ۱۶ weeks in January after being found guilty of assaulting two nurses at Broadmoor, a high-security psychiatric hospital in Berkshire, in September ۲۰۲۴.
In ۲۰۲۰, he was given a ۱۴-week jail sentence after admitting to attacking staff at the same hospital.
