My sister, 8, was killed in the Manchester bombing as I stood metres away – now I’m pregnant and she’ll never be an aunt
SAFFIE-Rose Roussos would have been thrilled to be an aunty for the first time - no doubt excited about cuddling, feeding and dressing her new niece or nephew.
But heartbreakingly Saffie-Rose, who today would have been 11, will never get that chance.
Saffie-Rose was murdered exactly three years ago aged eight, after a bomb exploded as she left the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester Arena with her mum Lisa Roussos, now 50, and sister Ashlee Bromwich, now 29.
She was the youngest victim of the Manchester terror attack. It was a concert she had desperately looked forward to since receiving tickets as a Christmas gift months before.
Now Ashlee, who was also seriously injured in the attack, has revealed to Fabulous she is expecting her first child in November.
But the news is marred with sadness for Ashlee who was with Saffie-Rose and Lisa, in the foyer of the arena when Salman Ramadan Abedi detonated his bomb around 10.30pm, killing 22 people as they were leaving.
“It’s bittersweet,” retail assistant Ashlee said. “I am excited, of course, but sad because Saffie-Rose will not meet her niece or nephew and she would have been such a wonderful aunty.
“She was so, so loving and likeable. Being an aunty would have meant the world to her.
“I’m 12 weeks along so don’t know if I am having a boy or a girl, but if it is a girl, I am giving her the middle name Rose.
“Either way, the baby will be constantly told about his or her lovely aunty Saffie-Rose who was killed by a cowardly monster with no regard for life.”
Ashlee was on a night out with her mum and little sister when Abedi detonated a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb.
Saffie, holding her mum’s hand, died at the scene while Ashlee and Lisa were both seriously injured.
Ashlee managed to crawl outside where she was taken by bus to Royal Bolton Hospital, undergoing three lots of surgery to have shrapnel removed from her leg.
At the same time and unbeknownst to her, mum Lisa was whisked by ambulance to Wythenshawe Hospital where she too had surgery to remove shrapnel from her body.
She remained in a coma for several months and only learnt her young daughter had died when she woke and asked her husband Andrew, ‘She’s gone, isn’t she?”
Her daughter’s funeral was delayed until July, so she could attend.
Ashlee explained how her sister, who she lived about 40 minutes from and saw regularly, was “so excited” about the concert.
Releasing a never-before-seen picture of Saffie-Rose eating an ice-cream sundae at the arena, shortly before she was killed, she said: “We bought her tickets for Christmas and put signs around the flat so she had to find them.
“Eventually she got to them and was crazily excited about finally seeing her idol, Ariana Grande, in the flesh.
“Between then and May she would count down the days.”
On the day of the concert, May 22 2017, Ashlee’s then-partner drove her, Saffie-Rose and Lisa to the arena.
All three sported cat ears - like Ariana Grande made famous - on their heads.
“The atmosphere in the car was party-like with Saffie-Rose bubbling over with excitement - even more hyperactive and giggly than usual.
“Saffie-Rose insisted on the ears,” laughed Ashlee. “We were taking selfies and she was singing her favourite Ariana Grande songs. She was always happy and hyperactive but even more so that night. She loved the limelight and was on great form.
“Saffie-Rose was a lovely little girl. So fun and feisty and loveable.
“It was the first time we had been out just the girls. My brother Xander, 14, was at home with my stepdad Andrew and it was really special.”
“All three enjoyed the concert - but Saffie-Rose especially. “Mum and I are not huge Ariana Grande fans, but we were having a great time because Saffie-Rose was.
“She had probably never seen that many people before and was in her element, dancing and singing.
“She was so happy but I think that night she was the happiest she had ever been.”
As the final songs played, the threesome left the arena with Saffie-Rose hand-in-hand with her mum.
But within seconds everything changed when the bomb detonated.
Ashlee can’t remember much of what happened in those moments, describing feeling total and utter shock and just desperately trying to crawl away from the heat, her mind a total blur.
But she does know she was terrified.
But she hates the people who did it, branding them ‘monsters’ for targeting innocent people.
“He’d deliberately waited until people were leaving,” said Ashlee.
“It was timed to get the most people and in doing that he managed to kill an eight-year-old child.
“What happened is such a blur.
“One minute we were walking out and the next minute I was thrown to the floor.
I couldn’t see my mum or Saffie-Rose. My leg was badly injured and I could feel a strong heat. I just knew it was a bomb.
The baby will be constantly told about his or her lovely aunty Saffie-Rose who was killed by a cowardly monster with no regard for life.
Ashlee Bromwich
“I was terrified but I also accepted it might be the end. I was losing blood and they were ripping up merchandise to stop blood pouring out of me. I was exhausted and I began to think I might die.”
In shock, Ashlee managed to crawl to the door where hours later she was taken by bus to hospital.
“Worst injured patients were treated first and taken by ambulance,” she said.
“During this period I wasn’t sure where my family were - everything was so confused.”
In hospital for a week, her stepdad managed to trace both her and her mum.
But before then she heard another patient’s visitors talking about an “eight-year-old girl who had died in the bomb”.
Ashlee instinctively knew it was Saffie-Rose.
She explained: “I started sobbing and screaming, ‘Shut up, shut up.’
Andrew later confirmed the news that Saffie was dead but with her mum still in a coma Ashlee said she didn’t allow herself to properly grieve.
Released from hospital a week later, she went to her mum’s bedside - but it was many months until she woke.
“She was horribly injured,” she said. “She had so much surgery but has been so brave. I can’t imagine how she feels. Being a parent and losing a child must be the worst thing.”
Now, three years later, Ashlee is finally allowing herself time to properly mourn her sister.
“I think about Saffie-Rose all the time,” she said. “ She was so lovely and I miss her so much.
“She was beautiful and loved bouncing around. She was a massive, vibrant ball of light.
“She didn’t know of any horrors until the moment she died but the people who did this to her were utter monsters.
“I don’t think of them - I can’t.”
Ashlee hopes the new baby will bring much needed hope to the family.
Ashlee said the death of her sister and the trauma they’d been through had hugely affected her family - and her.
“Afterwards I got diagnosed with PTSD,” she explained. “I was terrified of everything. My anxiety has gone through the roof. I would turn the corner and assume something bad would happen. I wasn’t scared to go out, but so scared of open, crowded places. I would see someone with a backpack on and panic.
“I’m a little bit better now, but it still affects me. I’ve only recently started counselling which has helped.”
What happened at the Manchester terror attack?
On May 22, 2017, 22 people died and hundreds were injured after Salman Abedi detonated a homemade bomb at the Manchester Arena as fans left an Ariana Grande concert.
He died at the scene but his brother Hashem Abedi, in Libya at the time, was in March this year at the Old Bailey convicted of 22 counts of murder, one count of attempted murder encompassing the injured survivors, and conspiring with his brother to cause explosions.
Hashem, 22, helped his warped jihadi brother source shrapnel used in the homemade bomb.
Families of the victims wept as jurors took less than five hours of deliberation to convict him on all counts.
They heard how Hashem was "every bit as responsible" as his older brother - and may have been the ringleader in the murderous plot.
Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Barraclough said: "If you look at these two brothers, they are not kids caught in the headlights of something they don't understand.
"These two men are the real deal, these are proper jihadis - you do not walk into a space like the Manchester Arena and kill yourself with an enormous bomb like that, taking 22 innocent lives with you, if you are not a proper jihadist."
The pair used their mum's £550-a-week benefit payments, which she continued to receive after she left the UK for Libya, to buy tools.
They flew back to Libya when friends noticed signs they had been radicalised but just days before the attack, Salman Abedi returned to Manchester.
Haunting CCTV caught him skulking around the arena at a Take That gig on a practice run.
Meanwhile, her parents moved from their home to a quieter place but still kept a room for Saffie-Rose.
“You can tell that a huge part of our family is missing,” Ashlee said. “We’ve always been a close family but it has bought us even closer together. But there is an emptiness in the family now that Saffie-Rose is gone.
“Her birthday is actually harder than the anniversary for us. We’ve had lots of paintings done.
“We’ve all been through so much. “When I told mum I was pregnant she really pleased and I know she will dote on this grandchild.
“We will never forget Saffie-Rose though.
“There are roses all over the house and we still sign cards from her. We talk about her constantly.
“This baby will still have her as an aunty - even if she can’t physically be here.”
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