Tate Modern fall boy 'struggling with all his strength' after two 'difficult' operations
The six-year-old suffered serious injuries including a spinal fracture after falling five storeys at the London art gallery.
Monday 19 August 2019 22:41, UK
A six-year-old boy who was allegedly thrown from the 10th floor at the Tate Modern is "struggling with all his strength" after two "difficult" operations, his parents have said.
The child, who was visiting from France, suffered serious injuries including a brain bleed and spinal, leg and arm fractures after falling five storeys at the London art gallery on 4 August.
A 17-year-old boy appeared in court earlier this month charged with attempted murder over the incident.
In an update on the injured youngster's condition, his parents issued a statement to the organiser of a fundraising page set up on their behalf which has received donations of almost £45,000.
They said: "Our son has already undergone two long and difficult operations.
"He is stabilised, but we still do not know the full extent and severity of his injuries. But he is alive, struggling with all his strength and we remain hopeful.
"We thank you very much for your gifts and all your kind messages of support. You cannot imagine how it helps us to see so much humanity in this tragic ordeal."
The fundraising appeal was set up by London nurse Vicky Diplacto, whose brother was paralysed in a similar incident overseas.
The teenager accused of attempting to murder the six-year-old at the Tate Modern appeared briefly in the dock at the Old Bailey on 8 August for an administrative hearing.
The court was told that psychiatric reports had been ordered, and that any trial would be listed to last two weeks and would be held in the new year.
No pleas were entered and the teenager was remanded in custody.
A reporting restriction bans the identities of both the victim and the defendant being made public.