After the horror
Families of the Manchester bombing victims search for hope amid their grief
AS POLICE CONTINUE THEIR investigations into the deadly Manchester bombing (at press time, 13 people were being held in connection with the terror attack on May 22), the English city’s shocked residents struggle to find solace in the aftermath of the tragedy, drawing on the kindness of those who helped victims in the moments after the blast to try to salve the enormous sense of loss. But less than a fortnight after the explosion—detonated after the final set in Ariana Grande’s concert at Manchester Arena by suicide bomber Salman Abedi, 22—the savagery of the bombing, which killed 22 people including seven children, continues to haunt.
Mancunian Paul Reid recalls the horror of the night when he tried to comfort 8-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos, the youngest victim of the blast. “It was pure carnage,” says Reid, who watched the little girl drift in and out of consciousness. “I bent down and just tried to console her, comfort her. She asked me, ‘Where’s my mum? What’s happened?’ ” He struggled to keep her talking and alert as police arrived and he assisted in getting her into an ambulance, covering her with his coat because she said she
was cold. When he found out later that she had died, he was overwhelmed. “Since then,” he says, “I haven’t stopped crying.”
But it is Reid’s actions—along with so many others who rushed to the aid of injured concertgoers—that inspires hope in the people of Manchester. Stories of bravery from complete strangers at the scene are plentiful. Chris Parker, a homeless man near the arena, ran to help, removing nails from the arms and faces of wounded children and helping to elevate the legs of an injured woman to help stem her blood loss. “Just because I am homeless doesn’t mean I haven’t got a heart, or I’m not human still,” he told ITV News. “I’d like to think someone would come and help me if I needed help.”
And in the chaos of the explosion, singer Ariana Grande’s mother, Joan, helped usher young fans backstage to safety. A week after the attack, Joan Grande tweeted her “deep sorrow ... My heart goes out to all the victims: those who lost their lives, those injured, those recovering ... along with the families and friends whose grief knows no bounds.” she wrote. “I stand with you all in the face of evil and we stand together to never let it rule our lives.”
For the families of victims, remembering their loved ones gives them strength. At a vigil for 15-year-old victim Olivia Campbell, her mother, Charlotte, broke down in tears as she addressed the crowd. “As a family we are united, we’re standing strong,” she said. “I ask her friends, strangers, relatives, to do the same. Please stay together ... don’t let this beat any of us.”