Teenager survives serious fall

London: The grandfather of a 16-year-old boy who broke his back and both arms and legs when he plunged eight floors from a tower block, on Friday described his survival as a miracle.

Jack Quane plummeted 25 metres as he tried to escape a group of four boys by climbing up the balconies of a block of flats in Bethnal Green.

He has undergone four operations, which have included putting two plates in his back, and is set for a fifth because of damage to his spleen.

He fell from Stockton House in Ellsworth Street and his grandfather, Patrick Quane, 80, said Friday: "It's an absolute miracle he survived, a real one-off miracle.

"He came out of intensive care last night and is now in a high-dependency unit. I have spoken to him but he just stares back at you. His father is in a terrible state and his mother is devastated. We are just thankful he is still with us. I don't know what happened, no one has said, but we are trying to find out."

Residents in Stockton House said that Jack used to live there but moved in with his sister in nearby Teesdale Street after his parents moved to Essex because they thought the area was dangerous.