Away from dying
Seeing carnage all around as blast threw her to the ground
longer to heal. She said: “I’ve been sleeping in my mum and dad’s room because I want company.
“I am struggling to walk but I feel very, very lucky.”
Speaking at the family home in Rossendale, Lancashire, Ella relived the horror. She said: “Me and my friend like Ariana Grande’s music so we stayed until after the encore.
“We walked into the foyer and there was a massive bang. We fell on the floor.
“As I looked up, there were bodies everywhere and body parts. My friend started to help me up and, as we looked at each other, we realised we were covered in other people’s blood. I didn’t realise at the time but I had shielded my friend and she didn’t have any injuries.”
Terrified, Ella rang her dad. “I said, ‘Daddy, daddy, I can’t move my legs. There’s blood everywhere. There’s been an explosion’.”
But her ears were so damaged from the blast, she could not hear his reply. She added: “My ears are still ringing from the explosion.”
Somehow, the girls staggered out of the arena and were spotted by good samaritan Jenny Lee, 24.
She sat Ella down, tried to calm her and rang receptionist Louise to assure her that her only daughter was safe.
Ella said: “Jenny could hear, so she rang my mum to tell her she was with me and I was OK. She rang the ambulance as well, she just took control.”
Yesterday Ella had a happy reunion with Jenny, of Ramsbottom, Greater Manchester.
Jenny said: “I saw Ella covered in blood and I knew I had to help her. I just treated her as if she was my sister. I couldn’t help her physically, all I could do was talk to her.”
Louise said the first time she saw Ella after the blast was “horrendous”. She recalled: “There was skin, flesh, blood all over her, in her hair.” Like dozens of victims, Ella
was taken to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. She said: “I could hear a child crying ‘Oh my God, it hurts’, and I saw a girl with loads of bandages around her head. “I have two wounds that could be stitched. “Doctors had to pull a piece of shrapnel out of another wound that they haven’t been able to stitch as it’s a difficult wound, so they had to dress it.” She added: “I want to take flowers to Manchester to pay my respects but it’s going to take me time to do normal stuff.” Ella, who had been due to climb Ben Nevis this weekend to raise money for Rossendale Hospice, spoke to us for a donation to the hospice as it is offering counselling to youngsters caught up in the bombing. Meanwhile, the 22nd victim was officially named as Megan Hurley, 15, from Merseyside. plan to release a charity single of her performing the John Legend hit All Of Me. They would like it to become the “song for Manchester”.
Charlotte said: “I wanted her to be happy and live her dreams. I messed my life up, school and college. I wanted it to be different for my children. I wanted her to live life to the fullest.”
Elsewhere, hundreds queued yesterday to get a tattoo of the worker bee, which was adopted as an emblem for Manchester during the Industrial Revolution.
The city’s Holier Than Thou studio took minimum donations of £40 to the fund set up for the victims.