More than five months after being pushed off the Tate Modern's viewing platform, the six-year-old French boy has started to speak and move his limbs.
ADVERTISEMENTA six-year-old French boy who suffered severe injuries after being thrown from the viewing platform of London's Tate Modern museum has started to speak again, his family have revealed.
He has also started to move his arms and legs, the family said in a statement posted on a GoFundMe page set up to pay for his medical expenses, which has so far raised more than €172,000.
"He pronounces one syllable after another, not all of them, and most of the time we have to guess what he means but it's better and better. It's wonderful progress," the family's statement reads.
"He still has a full armour of splints, but he also begins to move his four limbs now," they wrote. They also added that with sensation coming back, "he feels more pain, above all during the night, which is very exhausting for everybody, but he is very courageous and we stay strong for him".
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was thrown from a 10th-floor viewing platform at the Tate Modern art gallery on August 4 by Jonty Bravery, 17 at the time.
Found on the fifth floor in critical condition, he had to be airlifted to hospital where he was treated for a bleed on the brain and fractures to his spine, legs and arms. He was transferred to France in mid-September where he continues to receive treatment.
Bravery, now 18, pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of a child earlier this month and has entered a plea deal, the Metropolitan Police said, noting that "the motive behind Jonty Bravery’s actions remains unclear".
London's police reacted to the latest family's announcement on Twitter, writing: "We are so pleased to hear of his progress and we wish the little hero and his family all the best and Merry Christmas."