‘Daily living nightmare’ of bombing victim’s mother
THE mother of a Manchester Arena bombing victim recalled the moment her daughter’s final tear “rolled down her face onto my arm” moments before she died.
In an emotional tribute, Lesley Callander relived the “senseless, pointless murder” of her teenage daughter Georgina, 18, who was killed alongside 21 others by suicide bomber Salman Abedi on May 22 2017.
Speaking at the public inquiry into the terror attack, Ms Callander described the moments after the bomb was detonated.
“I must be living in a nightmare,” she said, “as I looked down at Georgina clutched in my arms – wondering why? Her bloodshot eyes were wide open and I was staring in a trance at her beautiful, pure, soft white skin.
“As I watched a tear rolling down her face onto my arm, it was a look I felt that she was telling me, ‘I’m so sorry, mummy, I guess I’m not going to get through this, I’m not going to make it, I am so sorry.’
“Then I realised she was dead. ‘Is this really happening? I’m not so sure’, I thought.”
She added: “I wish it would have been me, not her. But she was murdered by a brainwashed Isis fanatic.
“For me it’s a daily, living nightmare.” Mrs Callander, who was unable to bear visiting the city where her daughter died after the Ariana Grande concert, spoke in a video tribute at the hearing on Wednesday, during the commemorative phase of the public inquiry where the victims are remembered by their loved ones.
The inquiry, which is expected to run until April next year, will examine how the terror attack was able to happen.