‘Saffie was just a perfect daughter’
THE father of Saffie Rose Roussos has paid tribute to his ‘stunning young girl’ on what would have been her ninth birthday.
Andrew Roussos spoke about his daughter on BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire show.
Saffie, eight, was the youngest person to die in the Manchester Arena attack after an Ariana Grande concert on May 22.
The youngster was attending the concert with her mum, Lisa Roussos, and sister Ashlee Bromwich.
Mr Roussos, from Lancashire, told the BBC in his first interview since the attack he wanted Saffie to be remembered through the media as it is what she would have wanted.
He said: “She was a joker. She was a huge character. She was just everything you could wish for in a little girl.
“She loved dancing, music, gymnastics. If she wanted something, she would do it,” he added.
“[She loved] fame, stardom. I knew that Saffie would love her pictures to be on, and to be spoken about on, TV.”
Mr Roussos said he arrived to the Arena to pick the family up, to discover Ashlee being treated at the scene, while Saffie and his wife were missing.
He said: “We just walked round. It was chaos. You’re panicking and worrying. You don’t know what’s going on.”
Eventually he managed to receive confirmation his wife was being cared for at Salford Royal Hospital, but he could not get any information about Saffie.
He was later told by a police officer Saffie had died.
Lisa is still recovering from the blast and has been through several operations.
She is improving at a quicker rate than doctors expected, Mr Roussos said.
She was initially placed in an induced coma and when she awoke she knew her daughter had died, saying “Saffie’s gone, isn’t she?”
Mr Roussos said the family were getting through by being ‘strong for each other’.
He told the BBC he met Ariana Grande before the One Love Manchester concert in June and told her what she meant to Saffie.
Mr Roussos said: “All she could say to me was, ‘I’m sorry’, and I said, ‘you’ve got nothing to be sorry for. You made Saffie so happy with what you do’.”