Auntie ‘saved her young niece’ in Arena blast
Stories of love and heroism reveal human cost of an atrocity that turned night of celebration into tragedy
A SOUTH Yorkshire auntie has been hailed a heroine after she died saving the life of her young niece as the Manchester bomb was detonated.
Kelly Brewster, 32, from Sheffield, was at the arena with her sister Claire Booth and niece Hollie, 11.
Miss Brewster is believed to have recently put down a deposit to buy a new home with her partner Ian Winslow and the couple were planning to start a family together.
Mr Winslow said: “Kelly really was the happiest she has ever been and we had so many things planned together. My daughter Phoebe will be absolutely devastated like we all are.”
Relatives have described how Mr Winslow’s seven-year-old daughter Phoebe had a very close relationship with Miss Brewster and they were “like sisters”.
They have also suggested the couple had recently put a deposit down on a new home and were planning to start a family.
Miss Brewster’s sister and niece are both understood to be among the injured in Manchester.
Yesterday details continued to emerge about the 22 people who were killed after a suicide bomber struck near the foyer of Manchester Arena.
A 14-year-old girl from Leeds has also been named locally as a victim of the attack.
Allerton High School Sorrell Leczkowski was at the Ariana Grande concert with her mum Samantha and her grandmother, who were both seriously injured in the explosion.
A Just-Giving page has been set up by a friend of the family to support them.
That was natural instinct, the protection she gave them. Vicky Smith, friend of Kelly Brewster who died protecting her niece and sister.
THEY WERE killed in the cruellest of circumstances, victims of hate on a night that should have been about innocence, fun and laughter.
Yesterday details were continuing to emerge about the 22 people slaughtered in the pop concert terror attack at Manchester Arena.
Some in their 40s or 50s, many of them much younger, they will never be forgotten by their loved ones or the towns and cities they called home.
Victims whose names were confirmed yesterday included Kelly Brewster, 32, from Sheffield, with one of her friends telling how she died saving her young niece’s life as Monday’s bomb was detonated.
Vicky Smith said Miss Brewster was at the arena with her sister Claire Booth and niece Hollie, 11.
Ms Smith said: “When the explosion went off, Kelly sort of fell, chucked herself almost over both her sister and her niece.
“Whether that was just natural instinct, either way that’s the protection that she gave to them.”
York couple Marcin and Angelika Klis were also among the dead. It is thought Mr and Mrs Klis, aged 42 and 39 respectively, were waiting to collect a family member from the concert when the bomb was triggered.
Their daughter, Alex, 20, is a student at York College and yesterday its principal and chief executive, Dr Alison Birkinshaw, described their deaths as “devastating news”.
Nell Jones, 14, died at the scene of the blast, her school in Cheshire confirmed.
Denis Oliver, headteacher at Holmes Chapel Comprehensive and Sixth Form, said: “We are all devastated by the loss and as a school community we must now come to terms with what has happened. Nell was a very bright and popular student.”
Another victim, PR manager Martyn Hett, 29, from Stockport, was preparing to set off on a twomonth trip to the US.
He worked for Altrincham PR firm Rumpus and in a statement yesterday the company said: “Martyn loved life, he celebrated it every day and packed it to the brim with his passions.
“He taught us so much about seizing opportunities and rejoicing in everything life could offer, no matter how small, a birthday, a great moment at work, a celebrity follower, he made them special, now we know why.”
Tributes have also been paid to 26-year-old John Atkinson, from Bury, who was named on Facebook as a victim.
Friends of Mr Atkinson set up a fund for his family, with donations quickly passing the £1,000 mark.
“John was one in a million and loved by so many,” wrote Hayley Turk, who organised the appeal through the GoFundMe website. “A true gentleman,” she added.
Other victims included Jane Tweddle, a 51-year-old school receptionist and mother-ofthree from Blackpool, and Georgina Callander, who was studying health and social care at Runshaw College in Leyland, Lancashire.
Also killed was mother-of-three Michelle Kiss, from Lancashire. Yesterday her family vowed to “draw from the courage and strength she showed in her life”. Schoolgirl Megan Hurley was also understood to have lost her life in the attack. The youngster was a former pupil of Halewood Church of England Primary School in Liverpool.
Meanwhile, friends and teachers of Saffie Roussos shed tears as they came together to remember a “beautiful little girl” with a “creative flair”.
Saffie, eight, was one of the first victims of the attack to be named and yesterday morning a minute’s silence was held in her memory at Lancashire’s Tarleton Community Primary School.
Speaking outside the school, headteacher Chris Upton said: “Saffie was simply a beautiful little girl in every aspect of the word. She was loved by everyone, and her warmth and kindness will be remembered fondly.
“Saffie was quiet and unassuming with a creative flair. Saffie comes from a close, loving family and we can only imagine what they are going through.”
The mother of Olivia Campbell, a 15-year-old victim from Bury, paid moving tribute to her “gorgeous” daughter.
Writing alongside a photo of Olivia on Facebook, Charlotte Campbell said she had been taken “far far too soon” and urged her to “sing with the angels”.