NHS heroes who treated Manchester Arena bombing victims tell of harrowing scenes they faced
Brave doctors and nurses describe how they raced into work from their homes when they heard the news
BRAVE NHS workers who battled to save victims of the Manchester bomb attack likened victims' harrowing injuries to those of soldiers in warzones.
More than 60 wounded children and adults were rushed to eight hospitals across Manchester where doctors and nurses valiantly fought to save them after Monday's "nail bomb" attack, which killed 22.
The NHS heroes who treated them have described how they "braced for the worst" as dozens of victims with devastating shrapnel wounds flooded into emergency departments.
Paramedic Dan Smith was at home when the bomb struck, but ran to the arena when he heard what had happened.
He told the : "People were running in the opposite direction covered in blood.
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"I was faced with a lot of very scared people, a lot of badly injured people.
"I saw police officers sat with injured people comforting them, holding their hand, I saw members of the public doing the same thing.
"The thing I will remember more than any other is the humanity that was on display."
Another hero doctor who caught up in the Manchester bomb blast with his daughter went straight back to work to save lives after the horror.
After checking his daughter was safe, the doctor went straight to the hospital to treat the injured concert-goers caught up in the blast.
Army veteran Prof Stephen Hawes, an A&E consultant at Wythenshawe Hospital, said his experience of treating soldiers on the front line in Afghanistan was invaluable in dealing with the aftermath of the bombing.
He said: "I looked down the bays and was immediately taken back several years to my time in Afghanistan because the type injuries we were dealing with were very similar."
The 59-year-old praised the "teamwork and compassion" of his colleagues, as senior consultants chipped in to do whatever was needed.
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Fellow Wythenshawe A&E consultant Catherine Jackson, 38, rushed to the hospital after a worried friend called her, believing she had been at the concert.
She said: “At that point we had no idea about what type of injuries we would be treating - but we’d been told to expect nine major trauma patients. The hospital normally deals with one a day.
“We were braced for the worst, shocked, but we train for this type of incident and when the first patients started to arrive the professionalism shown by staff was overwhelming."
She praised the ";quiet heroes" of the department, who supplied docs with food and drink as they pulled 24-shifts.
She said: “There was just a willingness and a determination to help, because that is what we do."
Chris Moulton, A&E consultant at the Royal Bolton Hospital, said victims had been "penetrated" with shrapnel down to the bone.
He said: "Monday night showed the best and worst of humanity. The best being the eagerness of people to help other humans.
"The worst being the desire of someone to maim and kill other human beings."
Bolton NHS Trust chairman David Wakefield said there were a lot of tears from staff, including him, in the wake of the devastation.
He told the : "I don’t think anyone can be left untouched by what happened this week.
"I don’t know how staff coped with it all, there were some very emotional stories.”
Colin Wasson, medical director at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, praised his "fantastic"; team.
He said: "It was an extremely taxing on our staff.
"Some of the injuries people had sustained were very bad and it is impossible not to be moved by that."
Dr Suresh Chandran, 53, clinical director at the Royal Oldham Hospital, said staff were suddenly told there was a "double-decker bus full of patients" on their way.
He said: “It was one of the things you train for in life but hope never happens.
“Suddenly we had 12 patients with family, friends and police officers in A&E.
"We were dealing with shrapnel injuries, there were young kids, everyone was scared, but the response was very impressive.
“Everyone pulled together, not just the doctors and nurses, but the security staff, cleaning staff, other patients, everyone wanted to help. It was amazing to see.”
Charlotte Brownhill, 39, a matron at Stepping Hill A&E in Stockport left a pile of ironing at home to rush into work when she heard what happened.
She told The Times peoples' injuries were "akin to a warzone".
"They had huge trauma to their legs, blast trauma, and extensive haemorrhaging.
"It was the first spine-chilling moment of reality of the level of devastation that had been created."
She said the A&E was eerily quiet, as casualties were so shocked they couldn't even shout or scream.
A Syrian doctor described how the horrific attack and victims' injuries reminded him of airstrikes in Aleppo.
Dr Mounir Hakimi, 41, told : "I never expected that I would be treating patients who have the same injuries that I saw in Syria.
"When you saw the videos of when the bomb happened in Manchester, and saw the social media, and saw the horror of people's faces, the thing that clicked for me was the experience I had in Aleppo, where there was an airstrike and I saw the same look on their faces. It all came flooding back."
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