Miracle of the mobile phone
Woman chatting on iPhone survives explosion after it deflects shrapnel
A MOTHER survived the Manchester bombing after her mobile phone deflected a piece of shrapnel, her husband said yesterday.
Lisa Bridgett, 45, was chatting on the iPhone as she waited to collect her daughter and a friend from the Ariana Grande concert when suicide bomber Salman Abedi struck on Monday night.
The massive blast sent a steel nut packed in the bomb hurtling towards her head.
The projectile chopped off her middle finger which was holding the phone, but then deflected off the metal handset through her cheek and lodged in her nose.
Her husband Steve, 45, said she was ‘very lucky to be alive’ and believes the phone slowed down the nut.
Yesterday on social media he posted pictures of the battered and bloody handset which proved the slim difference between life and death.
He also posted a photograph of her bloodied shoe with another nut from the attack still inside.
Writing on Facebook, he said: ‘ Lisa is in a positive mood and feels very lucky to be alive, witnessing firsthand what could have been.
‘She has suffered multiple injuries including losing the middle finger from her left hand, which was caused by a steel nut that hit her finger then into her phone and eventually coming to rest in her nose.
‘She has a fractured ankle caused by shrapnel, and also a large bullet hole wound to her thigh… other cuts and bruises…
‘The fact she was on her phone at the time has probably saved her life as the nut has hit her phone, which has more than likely not only diverted it, but also slowed it down considerably.
‘Her nose is fine as the nut entered through her cheek, so just a scar to deal with.’ He said she would be in a cast for a few weeks and then have pins in her ankles, but should make a full recovery.
He added: ‘This may seem a bit graphic but at the end of the day it’s a reality.’
Mrs Bridgett, a manager of a boatyard in Pwllheli, North Wales, was in the foyer of the Manchester Arena at the time of the attack. She was still being treated in hospital in Manchester yesterday with relatives at her bedside.
She had surgery on Tuesday and was due to have another operation.
Her husband thanked the police and hospital staff for their ‘incredible work’ and a steward named Peter at the Manchester Arena for helping his wife outside and getting her to safety. He said: ‘I have spoken to Peter since and we are going to meet up… onwards and upwards… she’ll soon be propping the bar up again.
‘Thank you for everyone’s wishes and offers of support… it means a lot xx.’
Colleagues of Mrs Bridgett said they had been in contact with her daughter, Ashleigh, whom they said was ‘OK’.
‘Should make a full recovery’