Jack Widdowson, the British dancer with Bern’s Ballet company, is recovering a month after sustaining life threatening injuries (a neck fracture and damage to his spinal cord) in an assault in Wales. The Konzert Theater Bern yesterday said that the 19-year-old can now take short walks and stand on his own. The statement said the dancer is optimistic about returning to the stage, and is ‘full of energy and optimism’.

Widdowson sustained his injuries in a November assault while visiting his brother in Cardiff. Robbery is believed to be the motivation for the attack.