Boy, 6, ‘thrown 100ft off Tate Modern by teenager’ can only smile to communicate, say family
A BOY “thrown” from the tenth floor of London’s Tate Modern can only smile to communicate, his family said yesterday.
The lad, six, fractured his spine, legs and arms and suffered a bleed to the brain when allegedly hurled off a viewing platform.
The French family said he now “struggles to understand why he can’t move, swallow or talk”.
On a GoFundMe page that has so far raised £80,000 they wrote: “Our little boy begins to do his best to move his tongue, his right arm and hand.
“We see his efforts. We believe with all our heart that he will find the way, from his head, to do everything again.
BOY'S AGONY
“He is very brave. He keeps on smiling and reacting to our jokes. We begin to see also, unfortunately, his suffering.
“He doesn’t understand why he cannot manage to eat or swallow a bit of yoghurt and he wants so much to be able to do it. We have to be strong for him.
“First because he keeps on smiling and making progress bravely, and secondly because we see that you count on us to take care of him.”
The boy, who cannot be named, was visiting the gallery while on holiday with his mum on August 4.
He plummeted from a tenth-floor viewing deck to a fifth-floor roof.
Witnesses visiting the popular attraction claimed the suspect had been following families around moments before the horror incident.
Administration worker Nancy Barnfield, 47, said: "He had his hands behind his back the whole time, his back to the wall, just watching people.
MUM'S HORRIFYING SCREAMS
"We walked away from him then immediately when he was out of sight a woman was screaming 'My son, my son' and people were grabbing him."
Tourists claimed the child's devastated mum tried to climb over the 10th floor railing to rescue her son.
Mark Welte, a San Francisco writer, said he had heard "primal screams", adding: "The child's mother then tried to climb the rail. I restrained her and pulled her back.
"Mothers desperately grabbed their own children as chaotic scenes unfolded at the popular tourist attraction.
Fellow witness Olga Malehevska was on the viewing platform with her four-year-old son when she saw the little boy falling - saying it was "absolutely terrifying".
But she said she suddenly heard a noise, with people starting to shout "Oh my God, the boy dropped".
She said: "I just felt like something is going on, I should take my child out of there immediately and we tried to go towards the exit."
A boy of 17 has been charged with attempted murder. He is due to stand trial next year.
- GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk