Mother who shielded son

A MUM said she was ‘on pins’ at the One Love concert after having to dive over her son to protect him during the Manchester Arena attack.

Anne Marie Iaban and her son Brandon, 12, from Oldham, were unharmed following the attack at the May 22 concert.

Brandon has jokingly called his mum ‘mummy Thor’ after the strength she displayed in protecting him.

But Anne Marie admitted she felt a sense of trepidation at going to the tribute concert, saying she was in tears and suffering from a panic attack when she got to the entrance.

Anne Marie said: “It was something you don’t expect your 12-year-old son to have to go through.

“You didn’t know if you were coming out alive.

“To actually be in a situation where I’m putting my body over my son, because you don’t know what’s going to happen, is not good.

“I threw him from one side of me to the other and covered his body with mine.

“He keeps laughing at the minute and calling me ‘mummy Thor.’

“It sounded like gunshots at the end but we know that was part of the bomb.

“It did sound like gunshots and I was worried somebody was coming through the door.

“It felt like hours, but it was about 30 seconds.

“Then I said to him, ‘when I tell you, you need to get up, get hold of my hand and run,’ and I showed him where we had to run through a fire escape.”

Brandon said he was looking forward to Sunday night’s concert, despite the horror that unfolded at the Arena ‘just because of that one person’

He said: “It felt fun. We saw more celebrities.”

Anne Marie admitted that she had been more affected by what she saw at the Arena.

She said: “I’m the one