‘Eilidh was very special. It wasn’t hard to love her... she was mine’
Inquiry hears mother’s tribute to victim, 14, of Manchester bombing
THE heartbroken mother of a Scots schoolgirl killed in the Manchester Arena bombing yesterday told how it had been an ‘honour and privilege’ to raise her.
Eilidh MacLeod had travelled from her home in Barra, in the Outer Hebrides, to the Ariana Grande concert with her mother, Marion, and a friend.
The 14-year-old was only 13 feet away from Salman Abedi when he detonated his shrapnel-loaded backpack bomb.
Around 14,000 fans were at the venue when the suicide bomber killed 22 people and injured hundreds of others on May 22, 2017.
Yesterday, on the first day of ‘pen portrait’ hearings designed to remember those who died, a poignant 30-minute video paying tribute to Eilidh was played to the inquiry into the atrocity.
It featured images of the stunning landscape in which the youngster grew up, traditional pipe music and tributes from her family, teachers and friends.
Mrs MacLeod, 50, said: ‘I had the honour and privilege of being Eilidh’s mum for only 14 short years. Eilidh was a very special girl. Of course she was – she was mine. And it wasn’t hard to love Eilidh.
‘She loved everything about her life. The world was her oyster. Whatever she put her mind to she would have been good at.
‘She was our second-born daughter and she was a happy funloving girl who adored her family and would do absolutely anything for you. It always sweetened the deal a wee bit if there was something in it for her but it didn’t matter, regardless – she would help you, no matter what it was.
‘My whole world has been shattered, into pieces. I love her. I always have and we always will. We miss her, always.’
Mrs MacLeod added: ‘She was shy and quiet growing up. But once she got to know you, trust you, then that was it – her amazing kind of sense of fun and sense of humour would come shining through and that was you – you had a friend for life. That’s just what Eilidh was like.’
Mrs MacLeod added that even her daughter’s birthday, 01/02/03, was ‘quirky, just a bit different – it was not run-of-the-mill, and that she loved’. Described as a typical teenager, Eilidh loved hanging out with her sisters, social media, Harry Potter and visiting beaches close to her home with friends.
She also loved music and was called a ‘great wee’ player of the bagpipes.
Her father, Roderick, also 50, said Eilidh was so proud when her band was placed in the World Pipe Band Championships the summer before her death.
He added: ‘She was growing into a lovely young woman, it was amazing to see.’ Her aunt Margaret McNeill said: ‘Eilidh was kind. She was loving. She was extremely funny and absolutely gorgeous.
‘She really was a blonde-haired, green-eyed bundle of fun.
‘She was quite simply a shining light in our lives that has now been extinguished, and our lives are a bit darker without her.’
Michelle MacLean, her former primary teacher at Castlebay Community School, said: ‘She brought this warmth and glow about her. She had a special sparkle in her eyes. She was such a loving young girl. She loved, she laughed, she smiled.’
After the video faded to a sunset over the sea surrounding Barra, Sir John Saunders, chairman of the inquiry, said: ‘If I may say so, that was a very beautiful and fitting tribute.’
The inquiry also heard from the family of Martyn Hett, 29.
His father said his son was ‘so vibrant, so full of energy’.
Martyn, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, told his family he was gay as a teenager, Mr Hett said, and the family reassured him that they loved him unconditionally ‘because he was Martyn’.
Mr Hett said his son was due to fly to America two days after the bombing for an eight-week holiday of a lifetime he had spent two years saving for. The family had held a farewell party for him two days before, but had no idea they would never see him again.
The inquiry continues.
‘You had a friend for life’