'Miracle I’m alive’: Taxi driver who survived Liverpool terror attack 'overwhelmed with generosity'

The taxi driver who survived the Liverpool terror attack has said it is a “miracle that I’m alive”.

A week on from the Remembrance Sunday incident, David Perry and his wife Rachel have issued a statement through police thanking the public for their “amazing generosity”.

The explosion happened outside Liverpool Women's Hospital just before 11am on November 14, when passenger Emad Al Swealmeen, 32, detonated a homemade bomb.

Al Swealmeen died in the blast, while Mr Perry managed to escape with injuries.

Police said the explosive had ball bearings attached, which would have caused "significant injury or death".

The statement from Mr Perry said: “On behalf of myself, Rachel and our family, we would like to say thank you to everyone for all your get-well wishes and for your amazing generosity.

“We are completely overwhelmed with it.

“A special thanks to the staff at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital, the staff and medical team at Aintree Hospital, Merseyside Police and Counter Terrorism Policing, who have all been amazing.

“I feel like it’s a miracle that I’m alive and so thankful that no one else was injured in such an evil act.

“I now need time to try to come to terms with what’s happened and focus on my recovery both mentally and physically.

“Please be kind, be vigilant and stay safe.”

Police are investigating the incident, and while an Islamist plot is one line of inquiry, detectives are still keeping an open mind and the motivation is yet to be established.

Security services are still thought to be working on the theory that the hospital was the intended target.

Police understand Al Swealmeen was born in Iraq and had spent months gathering ingredients to make the device, using many aliases.