'I was just screaming': Mother of Manchester victim describes finding daughter after attack
The mother of one of the teenage victims of the Manchester suicide bombing has described the distressing moment she found her daughter being treated by paramedics after the attack.
Georgina Callander, 18, was one of 22 people killed in Monday's bombing at the Manchester Arena following an Ariana Grande concert.
Her mother Lesley told how she tried to comfort her after finding her lying on a stretcher.
"They were working, doing resuscitation and getting her down the stairs," she said.
"I was just screaming and shouting at her. I was rubbing her hands, I was rubbing her tummy, I was rubbing her face.
She added: "It was just a flicker of hope that she’d move her hand or move her leg or try and open her eyes a little, just to acknowledge that I was there, just to let me know that she was very, very poorly but she knew that I was there."
The teenager, from Lancashire, was a huge Ariana Grande fan and had been counting down the days and hours until the concert, her parents said.
"She kept texting me telling me her tummy was turning over," her mother said. "She was so, so excited."
Mrs Callander described the last time she saw her daughter alive, waving her and a friend off before the concert.
She said: "I took some photos of them together before they went in and gave them a big hug and said just have an amazing time. Off they went, they were just laughing and giggling together."
The explosion, set off by suicide bomber Salman Abedi, happened after the concert ended, killing 22 people, including seven children, and injuring scores more.
There have since been a wave of arrests across the north-west and the terror threat level was raised to critical, before being reduced to severe on Saturday.
Georgina's tearful father Simon said he felt like he had let his daughter down by not being there for her.
"I should have been there to hold her hand, when she was lying there," he said. "I should have been there to hold her hand."
Comforting him, Mrs Callander said: "I was my love, I was."
The family later released balloons in St Anns Square in Manchester in memory of their daughter.