I touched the door of death that night but the door was closed to me. I came back – Piotr Chylewska
More surgery for survivor of Manchester bomb attack
Asurvivor of the Manchester bombing has undergone the sixth operation linked to the life-changing injuries suffered in the blast.
Piotr Chylewska, who lost an eye in the terror attack a year ago, underwent surgery last week to repair damage caused when a piece of shrapnel ripped through his mouth.
The latest in series of operations came days after the 46-year-old returned from the city where he attended an anniversary service, a year on from the Manchester Arena suicide bombing which took the lives of 22 people, including Eilidh MacLeod, from Barra.
Piotr, who lives in Rutherglen, Glasgow, was left fighting for his life after being caught in the blast when he entered the arena to collect his wife and daughter from the Ariana Grande concert as terrorist Salman Abedi blew himself up on 22 May last year.
He sustained serious shrapnel injuries to his legs, head and torso and was in a coma for five days in Manchester.
Wife Ewa, 46, took a day to find her husband in a Manchester hospital. In the end, it was her description of the tattoo on his right arm – God Give Me Strength, inked in Latin – which helped nurses connect them.
He said: “Doctors told me my heart stopped working during an operation on my eye. They told me I had ‘a long pause’ because my body had been overloaded with all the operations and the trauma.
“They brought me back. I always say I am sure I was really close to death. That
was the night I touched the door, but the door was still closed to me. That is why I think I am born twice.”
Piotr, who spent five days in a coma, is grateful to the NHS for saving his life, but he felt let down by the mental health services after seeking psychological support for his trauma.
He said: “I was scared about having another operation, and I tried to find someone to talk to. They told me I was on a waiting list. It was four months after I asked before I saw anyone.
“I was really angry, because the fact that my heart had stopped the last time I had an operation was on my mind for months.”
Having used a stick for months, he is now walking unaided, albeit with a limp.
As part of his return to Manchester, he visited the nurses and doctors who helped him.
“I must have looked really bad when I was there, because only one of them remembered me,” he said.
“I wanted to go back to give them a cuddle, because they are the reason I am still here. They did a really good job.”
The father of two, originally from Poland, always intended to go back to the Arena to see the place again. “Something in my head told me I needed to go back,” said Piotr. “I hoped it would help, and that if I didn’t try I would never know. Something pushed me to do it.
“I had questions in my head. I wanted to know the place, exactly, from that moment.”
Piotr was unable to enter the Arena, which was closed as a mark of respect to those involved. But returning to the building provided him with a catharsis he considers an important part of his recovery.
The engineer now refers to May 22 as the night he was born for the second time. His scars will be a reminder for the rest of his life, but a tattoo featuring a bee – a symbol of Manchester that has become an emblem for unity and defiance after the bombing – is more important.
Piotr and daughter Amelia attended the memorial service at Manchester Cathedral two weeks ago, and the choral performances held at Albert Square’s One Voice event.
He said: “The service was important, it made me sure there were people always remembering. Afterwards was a very emotional time.”
Piotr has yet to return to work at a food processing plant in Hillington, near Glasgow, but says his employers have been very supportive.
He aims to walk seven miles every day as part of his physical – and mental – rehabilitation. He measures his psychological progress by his response to the unpredictability of public spaces.
“I scan crowds more, but even then you’re not going to find these people,” he said. “They don’t wave a flag.”