Emotional widow of murdered ISIS hostage Alan Henning opens memorial to tragic aid worker
Moving scenes in Manchester at opening of garden in honour of hero cabbie hailed as a 'true son of Salford' by city mayor, as wife Barbara describes dad's selfless mission to help Syrians
THE widow of murdered ISIS hostage Alan Henning has given an emotional speech at the opening of a memorial garden in his honour.
Hundreds turned out to the ceremony in Manchester to remember the tragic aid worker who was brutally killed by the terror group after travelling to Syria to help victims of the conflict.
Barbara Henning told the crowd at Eccles Recreation Ground how her husband was “so disturbed” by a trip to the war-torn country that he felt it was his responsibility to go back.
She said: “He didn’t care what religion people were or what colour their skin was – he just wanted to help.”
Alan was kidnapped while delivering aid to civilians in December 2013, with his savage killing announced in the form of a sick video in October of the following year.
The dad-of-two was shown kneeling as he read from a script blaming the UK Government for his killing, before being beheaded in front of the camera.
The masked terrorist who killed him – later revealed to be Brit Mohammed Emwazi – was killed in a US airstrike on ISIS stronghold Raqqa in November 2015.
Speaking of her shock at her husband’s death, Barbara said: “We didn’t expect what happened to him.
“For months we heard nothing. I worried he was alone with no one to talk to, whether he was being hurt, whether his back was playing up so he couldn’t move, which would anger his captors.”
She also described how other hostages held with the cabbie had said he cheered them up with his “wild stories” and talk about his family and his love of fishing and gardening.
She continued: “He was not a spy, he was our Alan who had gone to help. His death has left a huge hole in our lives which will never be filled.”
His teenage daughter Lucy previously told how she found out about her dad’s death after seeing a gruesome execution pic on Instagram.
Speaking on Jeremy Kyle, she said: “I remember just pouncing up and down my room as we hadn’t yet been told. It hadn’t been confirmed.”
The circular memorial garden in Salford is based on the design of a clock – to give loved ones and members of the community time to reflect.
It has two plaques and yellow flowers to symbolise the hundreds of yellow ribbons which appeared around the city when Alan was taken.
The opening was attended by Eccles MP Barbara Keeley and City Mayor of Salford Paul Dennett, who described the charity worker as “a true son of Salford”, saying “he will always be remembered for helping people in need”.
Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368