Breaking news this evening, there's been a major incident at Manchester Arena. Emergency
services say they were responding to reports of an explosion during the Ariana Grande gig.
Police, emergency. Hi, we heard an explosion at the railway station.
We've got over 20 people trying to get through, tell them to stay. So I'm going to clear down
on you, as long as you stay where you are and stay, then we'll get off to some room.
100 days ago, a suicide bomber attacked children and parents leaving a pop concert in Manchester.
All the roads around the arena have been closed off and police are asking people to avoid the
area, just stay away from the area. 22 were killed, 59 seriously injured. This is the
story of that night and of what followed. I just remember feeling really, really hot
and then I dropped to the floor. To be honest, I thought I was on fire. I didn't know what
had gone on. A story of lives remembered. I gave birth to that little girl. I brought
her up for 15 years and she'd been taken from me in the worst possible way. And of lives
being rebuilt. When I found out I'd be paralysed. I didn't cry. I wasn't angry and it was just
I think just an acceptance to the situation. It's the story of a city and its people who
came together to comfort the victims. It's like having a big life belt around you and
it's keeping you up there. You know what I mean? People might not think it's anything
but it's everything. Yeah, it's everything. And to make us stand. Are we a little shaken?
Yes. Will we be beaten? Will we give into the hate and divide? No. We are Manchester.
Across Manchester and beyond, thousands of youngsters were getting ready for a concert
by the American pop star Ariana Grande. Georgina Callander was an Ariana superfan. She'd even
met her idol, a memory she treasured. She starts getting ready, changed out of her college
clothes and then she wiped her shoes and then put a bit of makeup on and then she was ready
to go. She went, come on mum, it's time. She says, I can't wait. Come on mum, hurry up.
So we had to wait for her friend in the centre of the entrance and we waited for her friend
and she came along and she gave me a massive hug and a big kiss and she said, I'll see
you later mum. I said yeah, I'll see you later. Love you. She said love you. We'd actually
spent the day cuddled on the couch watching TV and then it was, right mum, I need to
go and get ready, you're not going till five o'clock, but I've got my hair to do my makeup
and off she went and it was just a madhouse for the next four hours while she got everything
ready because it had to be perfect. I had a free period so I left it too and I don't
take as long to get ready. So we'll go after school, me and Mum pick me up and we go into
Manchester. We walk into St Anne's and we get a McDonald's. I just said to her, really
enjoy yourself and try and leave as the last song's playing. Try and leave and then you
won't be waiting for trams for hours. I said, I will do my mum and I know what I'm doing.
I'm old enough now, don't worry and just give me a kiss, give me a hug and I'll go
away. She'd asked me to take her outfits down for her for half past three when she came
out of school, which I did. She came to the door of the car, opened the door and she just
said, had I got her things? I said, yes, everything's here. She said, have you got
any money for me? So I said, well I've only got, I think I've got about 20 pounds and
she just said, oh well, that's fine, that's fine. She said, I can get something with that
and I just said to her, I'll just have a wonderful time and I'll see you later and that was it.
It was the first time that Nell had been to a concert without her family. Martin Hebert
was there with his teenage daughter. He bought her VIP tickets as a special Christmas present.
My daughter's a big Ariana Grande fan, so it was always kind of in my head that if these
tickets came up that it'd be a nice surprise. The arena was packed, so there was a good
atmosphere and the noise was just ridiculous, especially when she first came out. It was
literally just kind of like pacing your air drums. She was really good, she was really
good live, which is, it was nice because sometimes you don't know if someone's going to be the
same live as they are when you listen to them. Everyone was doing like the wave, you know,
the Mexican wave. That was kind of funny. When the lights came up in the arena, we just,
because I was on the end of the row, the stairs were next to me, so we had to kind of get
out so everyone else could get out. There was lots of other people going out as well,
it didn't seem like we were the first ones. And then we left the concert once she'd done
her encore, and then that's when it all happened. That's when it happened.
American pop star Ariana Grande had just left the stage at the Manchester arena.
Her fans, mostly youngsters and their parents, were leaving to begin their journeys home.
As they did, a suicide bomber waiting in a fire detonated his device. It was filled with
hundreds of metal nuts and bolts. We walked up at the arena entrance, at the fire entrance,
all of a sudden this orange flash, like a fire would give off, but like a firework kind
of core fired by a thunderous explosion. Oh my God. There was this distinctive explosion
echoed around the arena. Then we set off at the run up the stairs. I just remember feeling
really, really hot, and then I dropped to the floor. To be honest, I thought I was on
fire, I didn't know what had gone on. And I just looked down to my legs and I saw quite
a lot of blood. There was a lot of smoke about, and I just remember hearing a lot of people
screaming, and then I remember looking over to my daughter, and I could see that she wasn't
in a good way. She'd obviously been hit in the head, but she was breathing, which was
a good sign. And at that point, I noticed there was a lot of blood coming from my left
arm, and quite a lot of blood coming from my neck to the point where it was kind of
gathering in a pool. I think I knew at that point that I was dying because I was starting
to shiver. There's quite a few people that we couldn't do anything for them, whether
it was just their injuries were too bad for what we had. The first aid kit that I carried
isn't the most comprehensive. I had a tourniquet and a bandage as well. The amount of people
that were injured, obviously that doesn't go very far. We ended up making makeshift
tourniquets out of T-shirts off the merchandise store. I could see that there were designated
first aid people that were walking around and looking at those that were severely injured
and those that had unfortunately died. At that point, they'd actually put a blanket
over my daughter. And I was like, no, she's still breathing. So they took that off. And
then I remember a gentleman stood at my side and he was instructed to put a pad on my neck
and it just all goes white then. And then I kind of pass out.
Fifteen-year-old Adam Lawlor, who'd been there with his friend Olivia, had also been
seriously injured. He tried to call his mum to let her know what had happened.
I couldn't speak really. It was unintelligible what I was saying. I spat blood on the phone
while I was trying to call up. And to remember the public call, Darren helped me and told
my mum the situation. Adam, who was on his hands and knees, but he was moving around
quite a lot. So he was rocking backwards and forwards and making quite a lot of noise.
Half his face looked to have been blown away. And I just remember him having a nut in his
hand. And I said he had all of his phone. He had mum on the screen. I just picked it
up and spoke to his mum. He said, he is all right. I said he can't talk. I said, but he's
moving. And I presume that he will be all right.
Within minutes, police and paramedics were on their way.
The sense of urgency over the radio, we were aware that this was something very serious.
We don't know if the scene is safe. We don't know if there's a secondary bomb. We don't
know if there's an active shooter. Are you happy to deploy? I think at the time I couldn't
really say yes. I just put my thumb up because there was a little bit of a knot in my throat.
And we made our way through the station and up towards the foyer.
As Leah and her team headed to the scene, people were still fleeing in the opposite direction,
many with serious injuries. Eight-year-old Lily Harrison was at the concert with her
mum Lauren and dad Adam. She'd been hit by shrapnel.
So we'd managed to go through some doors that headed towards the arena car park. We just
lay her on the car park floor and she was just unconscious and she just wouldn't wake up.
A police officer came across us and he kind of looked at Lily and you could hear him on
the radio trying to see if he could get an ambulance. But there wasn't going to be any
chance that an ambulance could get to us. So Adam just said to him, he was like, you
need to get us out of here. I need to get my daughter to the hospital.
My colleague said that she was seriously injured and he thought that she was having difficulty
breathing. He suspected that some of the shrapnel may have punched her lung. So I advised my
colleague that the van was a short distance away and that probably the quickest way we
could get at the medical attention was by me taking her to the hospital. On the way I
was quite concerned that if Lily lost consciousness then I would have to stop the vehicle and
give CPR. So I kept shouting into the battle, albeit it was quite loud with the sirens going.
I kept shouting as she was conscious breathing. Dad kept reassuring me, yes, she's fine.
Every minute that we were kind of in that car park more people were streaming down with
injuries and it was absolute chaos. We were just so glad because we got out of there really
quickly and we were the first ones then to the children's hospital. That's how quick
she got us there.
Back at the arena the scale of the atrocity was becoming clear.
The most patients I've ever dealt with in my career is free, free at once. So being
faced with 26 patients to deal with and there's two of you, free with the advanced paramedic
that was in there with us, it's difficult, it's very, very difficult. We couldn't be
carrying the patients out, we needed to be in there with them. So the police officers
that were on scene were absolutely amazing. They went and they got anything, any makeshift
stretcher that they could get their hands on using queue rails, notice boards, anything
that could hold the weight of a person.
Georgina Callender's mum Leslie had been waiting for her outside.
I just knew something had happened to her and it must have been serious because she
couldn't get to her phone to ring me. Then all these police cars came and ambulances
and it was getting very, very, very worrying indeed. And then eventually we were the only
two people in the road. Everyone had gone, there was no one else around and so we snuck
in and it wasn't good. But I saw, there was like 10 men all around carrying her down these
stairs and they just kept working on her all the time with the CPR. It seemed to last forever
before she was ready to go on an ambulance. We got to the hospital, they wheeled her in
and then after 23 minutes they said, I don't think she's going to survive her injuries
Mrs Callender, would you like to come in? And so I went in and I just held her. And
that was that.
All of the seriously injured were now in hospital. Adam's parents had driven to the city centre,
desperate to find their son and his friend Olivia. We just kept trying, both phone numbers
for Olivia and for Adam to see if we could get contact with either of them and one of
them was just going to voicemail and one of them was just ringing out. You rang Charlotte
didn't you and just said, we know that something's happened, we're on our way to Manchester trying
to find out what's going on, we'll keep in touch.
Both my brothers, my brother's son-in-law and my eldest son got in the cars with several
other people, went into Manchester and started the search. They went round every hospital
known that we're going to tend people in and that's when my younger brother came across
Adam. So he related the message back to us saying that they found Adam, which kept our
hopes going didn't it?
I thought to myself, if Adam's alright then Charlotte's got Olivia's got to be alright,
they'd have been together.
Adam's parents made their way to the children's hospital where they'd learnt he'd been taken.
The first thing we noticed, or remember I noticed, was a sea of blue lights and ambulances and
police cars and as we walked through the door, a doctor came to see us and the words from
the doctor was, I just need to prepare you and prepare us for what. And when they'd
worry about that curtain, nothing as a parent would prepare you for how Adam's injuries
and how he looked.
Lucy Jarvis's mum and dad had also driven into Manchester.
Eventually tracing their daughter to a hospital in the city.
I don't know how long we'd been there, 15, 20 minutes and it was just getting more and
more frightening for us. It could be any more frightening than it already was. And then
I remember a nurse coming in and said you've got to come with me now. So we marched down
this corridor, not knowing what to expect.
They walked past the bereavement suite and it was open. So we just thought the worst
didn't we?
I remember as we walked past that, feeling relieved because I thought if they'd take
us in there, that's the end of the world. And then we got there and Lucy was on a trolley
ready to go to theatre and we had probably a minute, maybe two, we just made a few words
to her.
For the next 14 hours, surgeons worked to remove the shrapnel that had peppered Lucy's body.
During that period of time, different people would come in and see us periodically, different
surgical teams, somebody from the vascular team came in because one of the pieces of
shrapnel had nicked a main artery in the upper leg. So that was a very dangerous time
for us during that first period of being in the operating theatre.
Martin Hibbert and his daughter were just 10 metres away from the bomber when he detonated
his device.
As the blast went off, I pretty much shielded my daughter from the explosion. I sustained
22 separate wounds or injuries, which were all either shrapnel or nuts and bolts that
were in the bomb that he'd made. It was just that one bolt that's gone through her head,
which probably would be my shoulder, why I couldn't have made it, 23 really. Because
other than the one that's hit her there, she's not got anything.
Martin's daughter had received a serious head injury. Her family have asked us not
to identify her. The pair were taken to separate hospitals, with surgeons at Salford Royal
operating to save Martin's life.
Martin had quite a significant injury to his neck, which led to decreased blood flow from
two of the blood vessels which supply the brain. He also had a bolt which was lodged
in his abdomen. He also had an injury to his spinal cord, and we found that he was unable
to feel anything below his waist, and he was not able to move his legs.
When I found out, I'd be paralysed for the rest of my life. I didn't cry. I wasn't angry.
I didn't get any of that. It was just, I think just an acceptance to the situation. My daughter
was alive. I was alive. Yeah, it was a case of, right, we've got that out of the way.
What do we do next? Type of an attitude.
In total, medical teams at eight different hospitals were working flat out to treat
the injured. But it was Manchester Children's Hospital which received the majority of the
casualties.
They were horrendous traumatic injuries to children, which you never want to think about
happening, and you certainly never want to see. I think one of the hardest things, you
know, I'm warm, but I was taking phone calls from parents looking for their children, and
in the middle of everything else, that was horrendous because I couldn't help them, because
I couldn't say, I've got your child, your child safe.
Many parents faced a terrible wait for answers, and when those answers came, it was sometimes
the news they most dreaded.
Olivia Campbell Hardy had been killed in the explosion.
15-year-old Olivia Campbell Hardy, 18-year-old Georgina Callander. Just three of the 22
people murdered in the suicide bomb attack at the Manchester Arena.
In the days and weeks that followed, the victims' families were surrounded by the
love and support of their friends, relatives, and even total strangers. Manchester's St
Anne's Square became the focus for a city's grief, and its compassion.
For us, it was a life saver, really, you know, to go there and just see people just going
in with bunches of flowers was just fantastic. It's like having a big life belt around you,
and it's keeping you up there, you know what I mean? You're not falling into that pit
all the time. Yeah, so yes, people might not think it's anything, but it's everything.
Yeah, it's everything.
And it truly is overwhelming to think that all these people actually care about you,
and thinking about you, it's fantastic, and it does show the strength of the communities
deep down. It is very important because if we lose that, they have won, and I don't
think they ever will win doing what they do.
And 400 miles away, that grief and compassion has been shared by the people of a small Scottish
island.
Ailey McLeod travelled to the concert from Barra in the Outer Hebrides with her mum and
school friend, Laura McIntyre. Laura was seriously injured in the explosion. Ailey was killed
in the explosion. Her funeral, the first of the 22, was the most poignant of homecomings.
That day, the whole island came to a standstill. Everyone wanted to be there, but we wanted
to make it a day that we focused on Ailey. Those 14 years of our life were precious.
Every year, we just wanted it to shine out, the beaming smile that Ailey had, the music
that she loved. We wanted the celebration of the mass to shine out with bits of music,
and for her age group to be a part of it.
Millie Dennehy knew Ailey well.
She was just such a happy person, and if you're in her presence, she'd all just lighten the
whole atmosphere up. Piping was a big part of her life. Our friendship sort of started
when we started piping together.
And Millie was one of the pipers who played at her friend's funeral.
The tunes we played were the ones she was playing the day before she went for concert.
It just doesn't seem real because living on an island like this, you just wouldn't think
something like that would happen. It doesn't really get easier.
It's something that we will get through, we'll never forget, but we will carry on, and we
will just carry the pain, but we carry love. I'm thankful to God that God blessed our wee
island with a beautiful girl like Ailey, and we'll never forget Ailey. Our memory will
always live on here.
For those injured and seriously hurt, the days and weeks since the attack have been
difficult, physically and emotionally. When Adam Lawler first woke after surgery, his
injuries prevented him from speaking, but he still wanted to know what had happened
to his friend Olivia.
He wrote things down, and he sort of wrote down what happened to Liv. I took his pen
and paper off and I just said to him, unfortunately, Sweeter actually didn't make it, so he just
sort of went like that, heartbroken.
When I found out Lever died, I was sick. It was pure blackness. What came out of me should
never come out of any human being. That, I believe, was my anger, a pain, a devastation.
All the emotions I could feel around this horrific event, losing someone you're very
close to, who you love at such a young age.
Adam was discharged from hospital after three weeks, his resilience echoing the spirit
of his home city.
There's hard times again in these streets of our city, but we won't take defeat and
we don't want your pity because this is the place where we stand strong together with
a smile on our face, Mancunians forever, because this is the place in our hearts, in our homes,
because this is the place that's a part of our bones, because Manchester gives us such
strength from the fact that this is the place, choose love, Manchester, thank you.
Though back at home, Adam continues to be a regular visitor to the children's hospital.
Scouring and burns from shrapnel in his legs and torso require regular cleaning and dressing.
That looks amazing, that looks brilliant compared to last week, doesn't it, really, really,
really good.
A bolt passed through his cheek and another through his chin.
He lost 17.
Try six sizzling sausages.
Six sizzling sausages.
Both of Adam's legs were also fractured.
That's healed, basically.
Well, that's what the doctor will tell you now, when you go back, you'll have a good
look at those and see whether it's happy.
All right.
And then you can let us know whether they get rid of your boots.
The boots have been protecting his broken legs.
Today he's going to find out if he can finally remove them.
So they've determined that I no longer need the boots.
I'm going to weave myself the crutches over the next few weeks and I'm back to good old
normal shoes.
It feels like possibly the most important milestone of all, by coming out of hospital.
I'm back, that's how it feels.
Martin Hibbert was paralysed in the explosion.
His daughter was also seriously injured.
After a month, he was on the move to a specialist unit where he can begin to adjust to life
in a wheelchair.
What we're going to be doing is we're going to go from the position you're in.
So make sure you're positioning your feet so you've got a good grounding, okay?
So when you're ready, lean forward, big push-up through your arms.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,
18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 28, 29, 30, 31, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37,
34, 35, 36, 36, 34, 35, 35, 36, 37, 37, 38, 38, 38, 35, 39, 41, 41, 41, 47, 42, 43,
43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 47, 47, 47, 49, 49, 50, 50.
He's got a bit of a way to go yet.
He needs to work more on his upper body strength purely to be able to do those transfers independently.
At the moment, his confidence is growing, which is another major aspect in it.
But to be able to do that transfer, he needs to work on not just his arms, he needs to
work on his back, on his chest and everything else, so all those muscles can work together
to be able to move himself around.
Physically, it's very demanding on the arms and the triceps, so it is very painful, but
I know it's something that's going to be very useful when I leave here, so you've got to
do it, you've got to get through the pain.
It's not just Martin's twice daily physio sessions that call for a high pain threshold.
So I'm having a tattoo of the Manchester B and it's become the symbol of the Manchester
coming together after the arena bombing.
With what I've been through over the last couple of months, getting a tattoo is certainly
nothing compared to the pain I've had, so I'm not nervous at all.
Right, you ready?
Yeah.
Four hours later, and Martin's B is finished.
Oh wow, absolutely fantastic.
It just feels like it's right, you know what I mean, like there's a jigsaw bit just, just
been done, do you know what I mean, does that make sense?
Peace by painstaking peace, lives are being rebuilt.
After a seven-week stay in hospital, 17-year-old Lucy Jarvis finally received the news she'd
been hoping for.
They told us only two or three days before we were actually going to go that, they thought
oh yeah, you can go home now, and we were like all in shock because we never thought
it would be so soon, and it was just such a relief to know I could go home.
Lucy's injuries still require regular medical attention.
I've got a frame, fixator on my ankle, the pins that go through my feet have to be changed
and cleaned every week, so they come every week to change them, it takes quite a while,
they have to change, my toe wound, my broken toe, it's quite painful sometimes.
Today she's preparing to take her first steps in more than two months.
I'm starting to go on crutches, which means that I'll be able to be a bit more mobile.
We'll be here, don't worry, so crutches forward together, and you just step in between, make
sure you've got a nice amount of space there, that's it, you're alright, you're good, you're
good, yeah, and again, that's done.
Do you feel comfortable on your own, Lucy?
Yeah, I feel better.
Do you feel like you're going to fall or...?
No.
That's really good, I'm really impressed with you.
Well done, young lady, you're pleased?
Yeah.
Proud?
I am.
Like this?
Yeah.
I'll give you a bit.
A 17-year-old should have to go through this, but we've come out the other side, haven't
we, and I'm hoping that she'll move forward and she'll lead a happy, productive life and
put all this behind her, really, as best she can.
I'm hoping to go back to college in September, so I'll be able to see my friends again and
do normal things like college work, which I've not done any of, but yeah, I'm excited
to do that in a normal setting again.
Formality has almost been restored in the home of eight-year-old Lily Harrison.
Lily was injured by shrapnel in the bombing, but today she's about to receive a very special
visitor.
Hi.
Hi.
How are you?
Yeah, well, you Lauren?
Yeah, good to see you.
And you?
You coming?
Thank you.
Lily's very excited to see you.
Thanks.
She just did me a come-through.
Thank you.
It's the first time that Kath daily has seen Lily since rushing her to hospital on the night
of the attack.
Hi.
Hi.
How are you?
Good.
Good to see you again.
You better?
Yeah.
Yeah?
Good.
What are you doing there?
Making the card.
Oh, that's very nice of you.
It's great to see you.
Shall we get a kiss?
Yeah.
Aww.
We're just really grateful because obviously without you getting us there, then obviously
it could have been a completely different situation.
She's recovered so quickly and just, you can see what she's like now.
Yeah.
Then I think this is what I'm like.
We don't know how to thank you because you said, oh, I was just doing my job, but we've
just don't know how to say thank you enough.
You've said it.
You don't need to say any more.
Just seeing you guys here today is all thanks I need, honestly, really.
Oh, is that for me?
Thank you very much.
Aww.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
Aww.
Thanks, Lily.
Thank you very much.
Nearly three months have passed since the night of the attack.
The injured and the families of those who died are slowly piecing together their lives.
Martin Hibbert, paralyzed from the waist down in the explosion, has left hospital and moved
to a respite centre for people with disabilities.
His twice daily physio sessions are continuing at the centre.
He's now using a hand bike to strengthen his arms and increase his overall level of fitness.
It's just that sense of freedom, you know, being able to get out on a bike and, again,
just, you know, have that fresh air, a bit of sun and, you know, actually feel like you're
doing a bit of exercise.
There's a bit of a route that they do here, and I think the record's 28 minutes to do
two and a half miles, so one of my achievements is trying to break that, so I'm down to kind
of early 30 minutes now.
His discharge date is looming, and Martin's thoughts are turning toward the next step
in his recovery.
There is a bit of a worry about, you know, kind of going home and not having a, you know,
buzzer to press or a nurse on call.
It's like a couple of days ago, I fell out of my shower chair, and it was weird, I think,
for the first time in the past three months, I actually felt disabled, and that was quite
hard to take, but on the flip side, being at home with my wife and our dog Alfie, being
a family again, is a greater feeling.
His teenage daughter, who received a serious head injury in the attack, is also slowly
on the mend.
She's going to be in hospital for a few more months, but, you know, she's awake now, and,
you know, she can see and she can hear, she's just started eating, it's going to be small
steps, but, you know, she's in the best place, so, you know, it takes as long as it takes.
Alfie's focus is firmly on the future.
But in the family home of 14-year-old Nell Jones, her absence is still being keenly felt.
You miss her all the time.
She's always, she's always there at the back of your mind.
All you want to do, all I want to do is give her a hug.
Even not even just to have her sitting on the couch over here, not even bothering with
you, just nonchalantly looking at her phone, you know, that'll be enough, you know, but
you'll never, never get that now.
Today, Nell's family are visiting her school, where a memorial garden is planned.
And those pebbles, that painted pebble lake, you see that there, and the big stepping stones,
but you wanted them in her gravel as well, didn't you?
Yeah, like gravels, they chewed up.
They go around there, and then a bit darker in that.
So it leads in, yeah?
Yeah, yeah.
It'd be nice to have something permanent that's there in her memory, that we can visit in
years to come, and even when we come to have children, you know, somewhere we can take
them and say, this is about you, this is for your auntie, this is Nell's place.
And the school have put together a memory box for the family to keep.
When she came to the school, if you recall, she had to fill in something to introduce
herself, and that was it.
I think the moment I opened it, and there was the paper that she'd filled in when she
started at high school to say what she wanted to achieve at high school, and what her best
subject was, and what her worst subjects were, yeah, that kind of got me, really.
And these are the books pasted in, they're obviously comments from friends.
I mean, we knew her friends cared for her and that, but the tributes that her friends have
written are just beautiful.
She'd be absolutely overwhelmed herself, yeah, she would.
Oh, that's lovely, isn't it?
There's 22 families gone through this, and they'll all be going through the same thing.
And each individual is special to them.
I would never, ever wish this on anybody, but we will get through it.
We were privileged and very proud to have her for 14 years, yeah.
So, they were 14 brilliant years.
15-year-old Olivia Campbell Hardy's mum Charlotte and step-dad Paul are also trying to come
to terms with the loss of a child, and their thoughts are turning towards a very special
celebration.
We got engaged about five years ago now, five, six years ago, on Christmas Day.
Ollie then sat around starting to plan the wedding.
Even though we said it would be a good few years down the line, she was determined that
she was going to plan it and it was going to be perfect.
Even though it's our wedding day, it'll be for her.
And they're determined that her friend Adam will be a big part of their special day.
Charlotte has kindly asked me to have the honour of walking her down the aisle at her
wedding to Paul.
I was quite shocked at first, but I agreed, obviously, because I felt I feel a sense of
duty to them, a sense of responsibility.
Blue was Olivia's favourite colour, so Adam has a particular look in mind for the wedding.
He asked his mum in hospital if we blamed him, and my message straight back was, I'll
never ever blame him.
He's just an amazing young man, and I've got so much admiration for him.
I want to live for Olivia.
He was gone too soon, and I want to give back what's been taken.
He can take my legs, but he's not going to stop me doing anything, and in fact, I'll
probably work harder for it now, because I love being a dad, I love being a husband.
Nobody's going to take that away from me, let alone a terrorist.
I want people to come out of this with love in their hearts.
I don't want people to use Nell as an excuse to go around hating other people.
She wasn't like that.
She solved the problems with hugs, not fists, a few tears, and that's how we want her to
be remembered.
Are we a little shaken, yes, will we be beaten, will we give into the hate and divide, no,
we are Manchester.
Tonight, join Tom Bradley for the ITV News at 10.
