Dad of Manchester bombing’s youngest victim Saffie Roussos relives harrowing moment his wife woke up from a coma after the attack

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by Emma Dodds |
Published on

Saffie Roussos was the youngest victim of the Manchester Arena bombing at Ariana Grande's concert in May

The heinous bombing at Ariana Grande's concert last month seemed all the more horrific due to the fact that the bomber had seemed to specifically target children.

The attack, which claimed the lives of 22 victims, took place at Manchester Arena at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.

The youngest victim was just eight-years-old - Saffie Rose Roussos' photo was circulated as one of the missing, but she was tragically killed.

WATCH: The heartbreaking videos and photos shown by Saffie Roussos' father Andrew

Saffie had been at the concert with her mum, Lisa, who was critically injured in the blast and was put into a medically induced coma.

And her husband, Andrew, has revealed on what would have been Saffie's ninth birthday that Lisa knew as soon as she came round that Saffie had passed away.

Andrew spoke to the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire, revealing that Lisa's first words when she woke up were: "Saffie's gone, isn't she?"

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Andrew spoke to the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire (Credit: BBC/ Victoria Derbyshire) ©BBC/ Victoria Derbyshire

He revealed that he couldn't accept the news of Saffie's death to begin with: "I couldn't take it in. I just sat there looking at him. It's just your worst nightmare. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know what to think."

He added that the family were being "strong for each other" and all do a "little bit of crying and cuddling" to help them "get through the day".

Andrew appeared on the programme with Saffie's brother Xander and her 26-year-old sister Ashlee Bromwich, who was at the concert with her.

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Saffie was the youngest victim of the bomb blast (Credit: BBC/ Victoria Derbyshire) ©BBC/ Victoria Derbyshire

Ashlee said: "She was Ariana Grande-obsessed, so to see how happy she was, it was just... Obviously I had to go with her. She was so happy, just elated all night."

Andrew added that he met with Ariana Grande before the One Love Manchester concert, saying: "All she could say to me was, 'I'm sorry', and I said, 'You've got nothing to be sorry for. You made Saffie so happy with what you do'."

Our thoughts are with those who have been affected by the concert.

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