A boy who was thrown from the Tate Modern viewing balcony in 2019 has finally left hospital and briefly returned to school, his family has announced. They say the youngster, whom they affectionately call "notre petit chevalier" – our little knight – has a "smile back on his face".
The French child was six when he was attacked by then-teenager Jonty Bravery at the London gallery on August 4, 2019. He survived the 100ft (30-metre) fall while on holiday with his parents, but suffered a brain bleed and multiple fractures.
Family's update
In a GoFundMe page update, the family 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, the family reported that his recovery had taken a "sad step backwards", but this latest message appears much more upbeat.
Fundraiser support
The GoFundMe campaign was set up by Surrey-based nurse Vicky Diplacto, whose brother was left paralysed after an incident abroad. It has raised more than £500,000 to help with the boy's medical expenses.
The boy is now undergoing intensive rehabilitation, including physiotherapy, speech therapy and neuropsychology.
Plans for summer
To mark the end of his hospital treatment, his family plan to take him tandem paragliding and on a seaside holiday with friends. He also intends to restart adaptive swimming lessons and maths tutoring to make up for missed school time.
His family added: "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."
Jonty Bravery's sentence
Bravery, now 24, was living in supported accommodation at the time of the attack but was allowed unsupervised outings. Court proceedings later revealed he had planned to choose and murder someone. He admitted attempted murder and received a life sentence with a minimum term of 15 years.
Earlier this year, he was handed a 16-week prison sentence for assaulting two nurses at Broadmoor high-security psychiatric hospital in September 2024. In 2020, he had also received a 14-week sentence for attacking staff at the same hospital.
