The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Boyfriend of Arena victim pays tribute
The boyfriend of Martyn Hett who died in the Manchester Arena terror attack has posted a touching tribute to him on the fifth anniversary of the bombing.
In a social media post addressed to his partner, who was 29 when he died, Russell Hayward said “my heart will always have a permanent piece missing.”
Mr Hett, a social media manager and Coronation Street superfan, was one of 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert half a decade ago who never came home, and memorial events have taken place across Manchester to remember them.
Mr Hayward shared a photograph of himself and Mr Hett, remembering him as someone “with no airs and graces” who “lived life at 100mph”.
He wrote on Instagram: “Five years since I’ve seen you. Five years since I’ve held you. I do not feel like it’s been five years. I feel like it’s been 500 years.
“I miss going to ridiculously overpriced restaurants with you and me ordering a dessert wine and you asking for a Long Island iced tea,” he added.
“You had no airs or graces.
“Remember when you got a promotion at work and I bought you a bottle of Dom Perignon?
“Later that night you said it was lovely what I did but you’d probably prefer 10 bottles of cheap wine for the same price.
“You were a complete one-off. And my heart will always have a permanent piece missing.”
Yesterday was the first time in three years that people in Manchester had been able to mark the anniversary free of coronavirus restrictions.
It was also the first year that residents had been able to remember the victims at a permanent memorial for them – the Glade of Light Memorial, which was opened by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge earlier this month.
The riverside memorial was the setting for a remembrance service for the victims, and quiet crowds laid flowers on the white marble ring in the centre, where the names of the victims are carved in bronze.
Manchester Cathedral was open to mourners while the bells tolled at 10.31pm – the time a bomb was detonated on May 22 2017.
Meanwhile, more than 20,000 racers in yesterday’s Great Manchester Run gave applause for the victims ahead of the starting pistol.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and 19-year-old Freya Lewis, who was at the concert five years ago, were among those running.
Mr Burnham led tributes to the victims on Twitter.
Ms Lewis, who learned to walk again after suffering multiple injuries, fractures and burns in the bombing, ran for the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity, as staff at the hospital saved her life.