Make Saffie the most famous girl in the world
Family’s plea as youngest victim of Manchester bomb laid to rest
HEARTBREAK Mum Lisa and brother Xander yesterday
Schoolgirl Saffie-Rose Roussos dreamed of being a star. She didn’t just want to be a little bit famous. Saffie wanted to be the most famous girl in the world.
Heartbreakingly her perfect face, big brown eyes and cute dimples are now forever etched on the nation’s conciousness for the most devastating reason.
She had been counting the days from Christmas until May 22 when, for the very first time, she could see her idol Ariana Grande sing live.
But what should have been the best night of her life was to be her last. Saffie, eight, became the youngest victim of the Manchester Arena bomber.
Yesterday she was the last of the 22 murdered innocents to be laid to rest – as her family asked for the public’s help in making her dream of fame come true.
Saffie’s funeral took place in the city’s cathedral just a few hundred yards from the arena where her life was cut short.
Mourners queued in the rain to pay their respects – each holding a single rose in tribute, just as her family had asked.
Inside, Saffie’s friends from Tarleton Primary School in Leyland sat in silence to say their final goodbyes to the girl who was the life and soul of their classroom.
Some of the mourners were so young that cathedral staff had set up colouring tables with crayons and paper to keep them occupied till the service started.
Saffie’s tiny wicker coffin, covered in pink roses, was carried in by dad Andrew and other family members as they heard the voice of Ariana Grande singing Faith with Stevie Wonder from the move Sing.
Suddenly the rain stopped and the sun lit up the stained glass windows for her.
Saffie’s mum Lisa, 48, severely injured in the bombing, had been discharged from hospital for the day.
She knew her daughter wanted to be a singer or actress but tried to encourage her to have a Plan B, maybe be a teacher or gymnast. But Saffie always answered “No”. She just wanted to be a star.
So yesterday her family released 40 new pictures of their precious girl online
in a bid to achieve her aim. Andrew explained: “I want to stand here as a father and promise something to Saffie – with the help of friends, family and the public.
“I want to make her the world’s most famous girl. That was her dream and she’d have gone and got it herself. When you Google “the most famous girl in the world” I want it to be Saffie-Rose Roussos”.
Older sister Ashlee Bromwich, 23, wore a rose-coloured dress and the famous Ariana Grande cat ears in tribute as she joined brother Xander, 10, to lay a bible and cross on Saffie’s coffin.
The Rev Roger Govender, Dean of Manchester, led the service, saying it was not only poignant for the family but for the city’s people too. Andrew fought tears as he paid tribute to his “stunning” daughter, saying: “I was honoured to be her dad. She was a superstar in the making.
“To become something in life you have to have that spark, that charisma, that something. The ones who make it have got that from the very beginning and Saffie had it. She knew what she was, what she had and what she wanted. All she asked from us was to love her, to reassure her that we were there for her to go off and do what she wanted to do. “She was stunning, she had everything going for her.” Yet while tears and emotion filled the cathedral there was also laughter as the service celebrated Saffie’s life.
A video montage of relatives, pals and teachers recalling their favourite memories of her was played to the congregation.
The Manchester worker bee, a symbol of hope and strength for the city’s people in the aftermath of the bombing, is already included in the cathedral’s altar. But the Rev Govender said there will eventually be 22 model bees there in tribute to all the bomb attack victims.
Mum Lisa held up Saffie’s bee to be blessed as part of the service.
Her daughter’s head teacher Chris Upton spoke of the quietly confident child who he said was so determined to be on the school council that her Vote Saffie election campaign would have given Donald Trump a run for his money. He spoke of Saffie the joker who did the splits to get attention from customers in her parents’ chip shop and hid empty yoghurt pots in her brother’s shoes as a prank.
There was Saffie the team player, always first to help others in dance lessons, and the peacemaker defusing rows between her pals.
Mr Upton went on: “The irony of this tragedy is the concert was a wonderful experience for her. It was the happiest Lisa and Ashlee had ever seen her. Lisa rarely watched the stage that night but rather her beautiful daughter, who knew every song, danced every dance and didn’t have a care in the world.
“I am proud to have known this little girl who was an inspiration to us all. So as you leave the cathedral today try to be a bit more life Saffie. Ambitious, good-humoured, loving and compassionate. The world would truly be a better place. Sleep tight superstar.”
As the service ended, Saffie’s coffin was carried out to the sound of children singing Somewhere Over The Rainbow.