The parents of the boy allegedly thrown from the Tate Modern last month have said their boy is making “amazing progress.”
The six-year-old boy was seriously injured after falling from the Tate’s viewing platform on Sunday, August 4, landing on a fifth-floor roof.
A seventeen-year-old has been charged with attempted murder in connection with the incident.
In an update on their little boy’s condition posted on a fundraising page, the parents thanked everyone for their kind messages about their ‘incredible fighter’.
“He is an incredible fighter. Even if he can’t speak or move his body for the moment, we now know for sure that he understands us: he smiles and we saw him laughing several times since a couple of days when we were telling him some funny things or when we were reading to him some stories,” they said.
“It gives us lots of strength and hope, as much as the strength you, all of you, give us since the beginning with your kind messages.
“Thank you so much for what you do for our little boy and for us.”
The boy, a French national visiting London with his family, reportedly sustained bleeding on the brain, fractured spine, arms and legs in the fall.
A crowdfunder for the boy to receive gold-standard medical care has raised over £68,000 after being set up by a well-wisher who was not known to the family.
Vicky Diplacto, aged 31, set up the fundraiser after her family was involved in a ‘similar’ incident overseas five years ago.
“I have started this campaign as it is a truly horrendous incident,” states the nurse on the fundraising page.
“My family were unfortunately in a similar situation five years ago when my brother suffered a similar accident.
“I have a young son myself, I am a nurse, and having been through the experience of this and understanding how difficult it is has been the driving force behind showing support to this family through such a tragic time.”
The defendant accused of attempted murder has been remanded in custody ahead of a possible trial to take place in early 2020.
For legal reasons, neither the alleged attacker nor the victim can be named.
If you wish to donate to the fundraiser you can find it here.