Warning: This post and video contain interviews and content of a distressing nature.
Two 14-year-old best friends have spoken about being caught up in the horrific bombing at the Manchester Arena.
Best friends Zara and Ella were close to the bomb in the foyer, but were lucky to escape the brunt of the blast. Despite this, Ella still suffered shrapnel wounds to her legs, which she admits are “quite severe".
The two girls told Channel 4 News about what happened to them when the bomb went off. Ella McGovern said: “The fact that they wanted to hurt children is heartbreaking. It really hurt a lot.”
Zara Wilson-Patel explained how traumatised she was by the event, saying: “Mentally, I just don’t feel the same,”
The girls described the chaos inside the foyer after the bomb went off. They had been knocked to the ground and saw bodies all around them.
“We were covered in blood,” Ella recalls as she searched for her best friend. Both girls stuck together and managed to get out of the building.
Zara said: “I just knew I had to get out in case something else happened. I remember just grabbing her (Ella), sort of grabbing her hand and just running.”
As they ran out, Zara managed to call her mother. She couldn’t hear anything due to the noise inside, but she told her mother she loved her and that something bad had happened.
It wasn’t until they were outside that she realised Ella had been injured. Zara said: “I didn’t know what had happened and whether she had been shot, or what it was.”
Ella expressed her gratitude to Zara for helping her escape the carnage, saying: “Anyone could have just got up and walked and left you there but (Zara) helped me, and it was really kind.”
Brave young Ella recounted how her lower leg had been damaged by shrapnel from the bomb.
Both girls agreed that the city’s residents were devastated by the tragic attack but said they had received support from friends and their local community.
Zara explained that she’d received support in school from other children in her year and even some students whom she didn’t know.
We think these young girls have shown tremendous bravery in speaking so articulately about their terrible ordeal. We hope they will get the help and support they need to recover, and we wish them all the best.
