Story first published: Selby Times
Two sisters from the Selby district were among the scores injured in the Manchester terror attack.
Josie Howarth and Janet Senior suffered shrapnel wounds in the massacre which killed at least 22 people and injured more than 100.
The pair are still in hospital after undergoing surgery. They were injured when they went to collect their nieces Jenny Howarth and Jodie Howarth, aged 19 and 13, respectively, from an Ariana Grande concert.
The cousins had attended the gig at Manchester Arena after Jenny bought tickets for Jodie as a Christmas present.
Jenny, of Cridling Stubbs, has now spoken to the Selby Times about the terrifying moment a suicide bomber activated an improvised device at the end of Monday’s concert.
She said: “I rang my mum and said ‘don’t panic, but I think a bomb has gone off’. We were sat in the opposite corner from where the bomb went off, so we knew there was a chance that our aunties would have been in the area where it happened.
“Because Jodie’s 13, it’s my responsibility to look after her whenever we go to anything like this, so thankfully I had already checked where the emergency exits were when we went in.
“It was chaos when the bomb went off. People were screaming and running. I grabbed Jodie and we ran over seats to get to the exits. I was expecting a second bomb to go off and I knew we just had to get out.”
After escaping the arena the teenagers were taken to a Travelodge by a woman in a bid to reunite them with relatives.
Jenny spoke to her mum Jackie, who drove to Manchester to pick up her daughters, being reunited with them at around 3am on Tuesday.
In the ensuing panic Jackie also spoke to Josie and Janet, aged 59 and 61, also from Cridling Stubbs, who informed her they had been injured while waiting in the arena’s foyer.
Janet suffered a broken collarbone and has had the shrapnel removed in an operation.
Josie has undergone reconstructive surgery to her thigh. She is now awaiting another operation as doctors need to re-enter the wound amid concerns about infection.
Jenny, who set up the Wonkey Donkey animal sanctuary in Cridling Stubbs, said the attack has left her scared to attend concerts in the future.
She said: “I had about 15 minutes sleep on Tuesday but my mum said I cried all the way through. I have been crying on and off since.
“When it is quiet is when it hits the most. I can’t switch off. I have to sit with the TV on so it takes my mind off the noise of the bomb.”
“Going to gigs is our bit of downtime. I got bought the tickets for
Jodie for Christmas. She loves Ariana Grande and for our Jodie it meant the world. I have cancelled Christmas this year.”
Jackie, added: “I was at home when Jenny rang me. She said ‘mum I’m ok but something has happened’. She didn’t know for sure at first that it was
a bomb. But the panic in her voice was frightening.
“I spoke to my sister for a few moments. She said ‘Jackie there’s a bomb and we’ve been hurt’. Then the phone cut off. She had lost so much blood that she kept passing out and she was lay there surrounded by
bodies. She told me that it was heartbreaking to be among the bodies. It has left her traumatised.
“I’ve spoken to them both in the hospital and the doctors tell me they’re going alright. They both have a long way to go, but at least, thank god, they are going to make it.”
Ashley Pemberton 