The mother of Manchester terror attack victim Georgina Callander has spoken of her desperate efforts to bring comfort to the teenager’s final moments.
The 18-year-old was killed in the blast shortly after her favourite artist Ariana Grande left the stage at the Manchester Arena on Monday.
As paramedics battled to save her life, she had her mother by her side.
Georgina Callander had previously met her idol Ariana Grande (gofundme/PA)
Lesley Callander, who found her daughter on a stretcher, told ITV news: “They were working, doing resuscitation and getting her down the stairs.
“I was just screaming and shouting at her. I was rubbing her hands, I was rubbing her tummy, I was rubbing her face.
“It was just a flicker of hope that she’d move her hand or move her leg or try and open her eyes a little, just to acknowledge that I was there, just to let me know that she was very, very poorly but she knew that I was there.”
Some of the tributes left in St Ann’s Square, Manchester, to the victims of the attack (Peter Byrne/PA)
The night’s event was supposed to have been a memorable one for the young music fan from Lancashire.
She had previously met Grande and posted a picture of the pair together on social media.
As the date of the concert came closer, excitement reached fever pitch, her mother said.
“She kept texting me telling me her tummy was turning over.
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) May 26, 2017
“She was so, so excited.”
Speaking through tears, her father Simon said he was wracked with guilt for not being with his daughter that evening.
“I should have been there to hold her hand, when she was lying there,” he said.
Meanwhile, the father of a schoolgirl who survived the devastating blast paid tribute to the work of the paramedics and hospital staff who cared for her.
Freya Lewis went to the venue with her friend Nell Jones, who was killed.
Nell Jones, 14, was killed in the attack (handout/PA)
Her father Nick Lewis said the youngster had returned from her second major operation, which removed shrapnel from the “many wounds” she had suffered.
The Year 9 pupil is to be gradually taken off sedatives and will then regain consciousness, he added.
In a statement released through her Cheshire school, Holmes Chapel, he said: “Then the real challenge starts as we discover how she is psychologically, and we start to help her process what has happened over the past few days.
“Words cannot really describe our thoughts about the staff and the care Freya is receiving here.
“Awesome is as good as we can come up with, but that doesn’t feel adequate.
"It is with great sadness that we reflect on the loss of Nell Jones from our school community." Full Statement: https://t.co/m8xNseayiQ pic.twitter.com/oAr5Ow3MAa
— HCCS (@hccs1978) May 24, 2017
“We have nothing but the utmost respect for all of the professionals that have been caring for Freya and our family over the past few days.
“Our thoughts and love are with the family and friends of Nell. This lovely young girl, Freya’s friend with whom she went to the concert, died at the scene.
“Our pain is unimaginable, but even we cannot begin to understand where Nell’s family are finding the strength to deal with their loss, in such tragic circumstances.”
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