I held dying Saffie as she cried for her mum
THE youngest victim of the Manchester terror attack called for her mother as she lay fatally injured from the blast, a first aider who nursed her revealed.
Saffie Rose Roussos, eight, pleaded for mum Lisa as concertgoer Paul Reid battled to keep the youngster alive.
Sobbing Mr Reid, 43, said: “She was dying and just wanted her mum. It was devastating.”
The forklift truck driver, from Darlaston, West Midlands, was one of the first people to alert the police to the atrocity having seen the explosion before smoke engulfed the arena’s foyer.
Mr Reid, who has had first aid training, said: “I ran up the stairs and I was looking for a terrorist. I knew it had been a bomb.
“People were shouting, running and screaming. Inside the hall was chaos. There were people lying all over the place.
“I looked at my phone; it was 10.32. I dialled 999 and was telling the woman, ‘just send everything and anybody to the Manchester Arena, a big thing has happened’.”
Having spotted Saffie, from Tarleton, Lancs, still conscious he cradled her as she told him her name and age.
He added: “I wanted to keep her talking and asked her if she had enjoyed the concert but I realised she was having difficulty breathing.
“She said, ‘where’s my mum?’ I said, ‘I don’t know but we’re going to find her in a minute. You’re going to be all right’.”
Mr Reid said: “She kept drifting into unconsciousness. Then she started shivering and told me she felt cold. I took my coat off and put it over her.”
Mr Reid said: “She never cried one tear.”
Saffie went to the concert with her mother Lisa, who is still in intensive care, and half-sister Ashlee, 25, who has shrapnel wounds.
Her father Andreas – known as Andrew – has kept a bedside vigil for his wife.