The recovery of the young French boy thrown from the Tate Modern’s viewing platform has suffered a “sad backwards step” following a surgical procedure earlier this year, his family has revealed.
In an update on a fundraising page, the family said the boy, now aged 12, remains hospitalised in a rehabilitation centre and is unable to walk following the operation in January. They said his rehabilitation has proved “longer and more difficult than expected”. For the past three weeks, he has only been able to leave for weekends in a wheelchair, a situation they said frustrates him greatly. “He is eager to be able to walk again and resume a normal life outside the rehabilitation centre,” they wrote, adding that their son, whom they call “our little knight”, continues to fight with courage.
An Arduous Path of Recovery
The setback comes after significant milestones in the boy’s long and painful recovery from the attack on 4 August 2019. Then aged six, he was picked up and thrown from the 10th-floor balcony by Jonty Bravery, falling 30 metres (100 feet) onto a fifth-floor roof. He survived but sustained life-changing injuries, including a bleed on the brain, a fractured spine, and multiple broken bones in his arms and legs.
Since then, through multiple surgeries and relentless rehabilitation, he has fought to regain his independence. By October 2025, his family reported he had achieved a “long set” goal of being able to run, jump, and swim again, albeit not like other children his age. He had regained the ability to sit up unaided, feed himself, and had recovered partial motor skills in his left arm. His eyesight showed clear improvement and he had begun walking with a tetrapod cane, supported for balance. His cognitive endurance improved, allowing him to learn new concepts, and he matured, playing by himself and helping with chores.
He found a school “perfectly suited to his needs”, making new friends who eagerly awaited his return, though his schedule meant he could only attend half his classes due to ongoing treatment. The family is now looking to move to find a school that can better accommodate his therapy. A poignant moment came in May 2022 when he celebrated his birthday with other children for the first time since the attack.
The Attacker’s Sentence and Continued Violence
The person who inflicted these injuries, Jonty Bravery, was 17 at the time and had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and a personality disorder. He had previously researched ways to kill someone and told care workers of a plan to push someone off a high building in late 2018. He later told police he carried out the assault at the Tate Modern to highlight the inadequacy of his mental healthcare. He pleaded guilty to attempted murder in December 2019.
On 26 June 2020, Bravery was sentenced at the Old Bailey to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 15 years. The sentencing judge stated it was “very unlikely” he would be deemed safe for release at the end of that term “unless something significant changes”. A serious case review later noted that, despite a history of violence, Bravery had not been considered a risk to unknown individuals prior to the attack and highlighted a lack of suitable services for his complex needs.
Bravery has been held at Broadmoor high-security psychiatric hospital since October 2019. His time there has been marked by further violence. In January 2020, he received a 14-week sentence for assaulting two staff members. More recently, on 30 September 2024, he assaulted two nurses, kicking one and clawing at another’s face as they tried to stop him climbing a ledge. For that offence, he was found guilty and received an additional 16-week sentence on 8 January 2026, to run concurrently with his life term. His appeal against his original sentence was dismissed in December 2020.
