REMEMBERING THE BEAUTIFUL SOULS
Outpouring of love and tears from victims’ families & pals
The concertgoers killed by a suicide bomber at Ariana Grande’s Manchester, England, concert were innocent children, parents and young adults making their way home when the arena suddenly became a war zone.
Saffie Rose Roussos, 8, from Lancashire in northwest England, became separated from her mother and older sister as the homemade explosive device detonated in the foyer of the Manchester Arena.
Saffie was later confirmed to be the youngest known fatality in the cowardly attack.
The head teacher at the girl’s school called the news of her death “a tremendous shock.”
“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,” Chris Upton of Tarleton Community Primary School told The Guardian newspaper.
Saffie’s mom, Lisa, and older sister, Ashlee, were hospitalized with shrapnel injuries.
The mother, who reportedly is in critical condition, apparently has no idea her daughter is dead, a friend told the Daily Mail.
“Saffie’s sadly passed away, and her mother, we understand, isn’t aware. I am praying for the family. It is totally heartbreaking,” Salman Patel said.
Kelly Brewster, 32, shielded her young niece from the blast and was killed. Brewster was at the concert with her sister Claire and niece Holly Booth.
“Kelly was a lovely lass. When I think of her now, all I remember is her smile,” Holly’s father, John Brewster, told the Mail.
Lancashire resident Georgina Bethany Callander, 18 — an ardent Grande fan who had once even met the 23-year-old singer — died at a hospital with her mother at her bedside, a close friend told the London Evening Standard.
“We were all praying for her to be found safely. Then we were told she had passed away,” another friend, Shelby Wharton, 17, told the Standard, calling Callander “kind and loving.”
Wharton added, “She was always very open, would talk to everyone. She was so nice. It does not feel real. I just pray for her family.”
In one of Callander’s last tweets, shegave a shout-out to Grande, “SO EXCITED TO SEE U TOMORROW.”
Callander, whom friends called Gina, met Grande in 2015 and posted photos of the encounter on her Instagram page.
“MY [meet and greet] PHOTOS CAME [through] SHE WAS SO CUTE [and] LOVELY I HUGGED HER SO TIGHT AND SHE SAID SHE LOVED MY BOW I CANT GET OVER THIS I NEVER WILL,” the teen captioned the photo.
Callander, who attended Runshaw College and was studying health and social care in her second year, captioned another photo of herself, a friend and Grande: “LOOK HOW CUTE SHE IS I CANT BELIEVE THIS HAPPENED.”
Runshaw College said in a statement, “Our deepest sympathies, thoughts and prayers go out to all of Georgina’s friends, family and all of those affected by this loss.”
Two moms who went together
to the concert to pick up their daughters were also listed Tuesday night among the dead.
Friends Alison Howe, 45, and Lisa Lees, 47, were waiting in the foyer area outside the Manchester Arena when the blast went off, according to London’s Daily Mirror.
Howe’s stepson mourned her in a Facebook post.
“They took a caring beautiful mum and step mother away from us all she was amazing to us all x love you loads Alison Howe xx,” Jordan Howe wrote.
Lees’ brother also took to social media to mourn his loss.
“For those who don’t know Lisa is gone but never, ever forgotten. I love you Lisa I’ll miss you so much,” he wrote.
A friend, Sarah Barker, added, “Could not of wished for 2 nicer ladies.”
The teenage daughters of both women were believed not to have been harmed, according to reports.
A 15-year-old girl, Olivia Campbell, was identified by her mother as being one of the fatal victims of the attack, after images of the young woman circulated online all day as among the missing.
“RIP my darling precious gorgeous girl Olivia Campbell taken far far too soon go sing with the angels and keep smiling mummy loves you so much,” the mom, Charlotte Campbell, wrote on her Facebook page early Wednesday .
Charlotte had been desperately searching for her daughter since Monday’s blast.
“Her phone is dead,” the mom told the BBC earlier Tuesday. “Her father is out looking for her. There are so many people out there looking for her.”
A 15-year-old Grande fan, Megan Hurley, was also identified as one of the fatalities, according to local news reports. A friend of the teen’s family had set up a fund-raising page to provide money to host a “beautiful sendoff ” for the girl, the Echo news Web site said.
Friend Helen McDermott posted on the page that Megan was taken “far too early.”
John Atkinson, 26, of Radcliffe, near Manchester, was reportedly on his way out of the 21,000-seat arena when the bomb went off at about 10:30 p.m. local time.
Online tributes poured in for Atkinson, the third fatality to be identified Tuesday. He was remembered by loved ones as “a beautiful soul.”
“Heartbroken for the Atkinson family at this sad time never would I imagine this happening so close to home. Rest in paradise John you beautiful soul,” Taliè Andrèa posted, according to the Manchester Evening News.
Tracey Crolla posted, “Thinking of all the Atkinsons at this very sad time John Atkinson you turned into an amazing young man so kind and thoughtful you will be missed by everyone.”
In addition to the fund-raising page for Hurley’s funeral, others on GoFundMe.com had been set up for other victims’ families.