Tate Modern balcony fall boy can 'now open left hand'

A boy who was thrown from a balcony on the 10th floor of the Tate Modern has recovered enough to be able to open his left hand again, his parents said.

The French tourist, then aged six, suffered a "deep" bleed to the brain when he was attacked at the London gallery, last August.

His family say he is making progress and "manages to open his left hand when we ask him to do it".

Jonty Bravery, 18, has admitted throwing the boy to be on the TV news.

His victim sustained a fractured spine, along with leg and arm fractures, when he fell five floors from the viewing platform.

His latest health developments were posted in a statement on the family's fundraising page.

"Hello everybody, One month has passed, and we are more and more tired. But our son is still in progress. He can now eat mash."

"We hope that he will be able to drink soon, with a straw to start with," they added.

"He cannot use his left arm but he manages to open his left hand when we ask him to do it (two or three times in a row)," they said.

Last month, the family said their son had begun uttering syllables and on Friday said: "We understand better and better what he tells us.

"However, he still cannot stand or walk, and has great difficulty staying focused and thinking."

His their latest statement, his parents added: "Thank you for your help. We keep fighting with our little knight."

Their GoFundMe page has raised more than €186,000 (£156,500) towards the cost of their son's treatment.

Bravery, from Ealing, who pleaded guilty to attempted murder, told police he carried out the attack because he wanted to be on TV news to highlight his autism treatment.

He is due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey in February.