BOMB SURVIVORS RELIVE NIGHT OF TERROR AT ARENA
POIGNANT AND DEVASTATING IN EQUAL MEASURE, YOUNG WOMEN RELIVE THAT FATEFUL NIGHT
GAZING ahead, 11-year-old Erin is asked to explain what happened at the end of last year’s Ariana Grande concert in Manchester.
“I don’t really want to,” she falters.
Suffering flashbacks and unable to talk about what she saw, Erin’s story is a heartbreakingly raw reminder of the trauma suffered by so many young people.
The majority of the 14,000 fans were young girls enjoying a night of freedom.
For many, it would have been the first night out without their parents.
Twenty-two people were killed, more than 250 injured and countless lives were impacted by the Arena attack on May 22.
Also among the concert-goers was Amelia, 18, from Wigan, who was just six feet from where the bomb went off.
Like Erin, she’s suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.
Her mum, who found her being treated by paramedics on the night of the attack, is struggling too - battling an overpowering urge to protect Amelia from the world.
Struggling to let her out of her sight, she’s terrified of losing her.
Louise, from Poynton, is grieving for the loss of her brother Martyn Hett. As time passes, she says, she ‘misses him even more.’
The young women were all interviewed for the documentary ‘Manchester Bomb: Our Story,’ which was aired on BBC One on Tuesday night and is now available on iPlayer.
Poignant and devastating in equal measure, it follows their lives in the months following the atrocity - and features interviews with other concert-goers.
These are the survivors who took part: