WOMAN IN SEARCH FOR HERO WHO CAME TO AID OF DAUGHTER
THE mum of a teenage girl caught up in the Arena terror attack is appealing for help to find the young woman who led her terrified daughter to safety.
Olivia Frisby and friend Megan, both 13, were inside the venue when the blast went off.
The schoolgirls, who live in Urmston, Trafford, had no idea what was going on or what to do until a stranger took them by the hand and helped them through the crowds towards the doors.
Olivia’s mum Kelly said the kind actions of the young woman, thought to be in her early 20s, were ‘massive’ and ‘meant the world’ to her. Kelly, 41, said: “There were people jumping over barriers, climbing over seats, it was horrendous, and what that young woman did was huge in my eyes and I’d like to find her and thank her.”
The Ariana Grande concert was Olivia’s first gig.
Kelly added: “The plan was that I would drop them off and pick them up from the ticket office, but Megan had been before and knew where she was going, so I agreed to drop them at the steps by Victoria and let them walk up by themselves as I watched.
“When I went back to pick them up, I saw all these kids piling out of the Arena screaming. I wondered what was going on, but then thought it was because they were young and excited that they had just seen their idol.
“But then I realised the road was blocked, and a woman in a car next to me told me there had been an explosion. I dumped my car in the middle of the street. Olivia rang me, she was crying: ‘mummy, mummy, help me, please find me.’ It still brings me to tears thinking about it. I was running around frantically trying to find them both, and eventually managed to direct them to a bus where I found them.”
When Olivia and Megan got into the car, all they could do was talk about the young woman who had helped them.
Kelly added: “They don’t remember much about her other than what she was wearing, which was a beige or brown top with jeans and a black handbag. She was about 21 years old and pretty.”