Manchester Arena Inquiry: Wendy Fawell 'was a mother to everyone'

Video of Sir John Saunders summing up the emotional tributes to Wendy Fawell

A mother killed in the Manchester Arena bombing moved apart from her friend seconds before the blast so they did not miss their children leaving the Ariana Grande concert.

The inquiry heard Wendy Fawell, who was 50 and from Otley in West Yorkshire, 'loved being a mother' and her children were 'always paramount in her thoughts and deeds'.

She had gone to the venue to pick up her daughter, Charlotte, along with her friend Caroline Davies and her son's Ben and Lee.

As people started to leave the Arena, the mothers had separated and Mrs Fawall was approximately five metres away from the suicide bomber, when he detonated his device at 10:31pm.

Her final movements with Ms Davies - who survived the blast - were outlined at the inquiry as her mother, Julia Tiplady, and children Adam and Charlotte watched the hearing from home.

The after-care club manager at a Primary School died from a head injury, which was described by experts as 'unsurvivable.'

Wendy Fawell with her mother Julia Tiplady, who lost her husband less than a year after the bombing

Julia Tiplady described how on the day her daughter died, 'part of me died with her'.

A statement read by the family's solicitor to the inquiry said: "It was double heartache for me when 11 months later, I lost Michael, Wendy's father."

"I like to think he is with her now doing what he always did - looking after her."

She said her husband never got over Wendy's death.

Wendy Fawell as a child, her mother said she have never experienced 'such grief' after losing her daughter

The inquiry heard Wendy worked with children, showed them 'kindness' and her caring nature 'meant she tried to mother everyone'.

She was described as a 'fun person' and 'the life and soul of a party'.

Wendy Fawall was the 'life and soul of the party'

She was also a 'brilliant cook' while her family said her Christmas dinners were 'amazing'.

Sir John Saunders, Chairman of the Public Inquiry into the atrocity, choked back emotion as he summed up the many tributes:

"Wendy Fawell loved children, not just her own but others that she worked with. Not only did she love working with them but she had a great talent for it and many children benefited from her care.

"She died as she lived, doing things for other people".

'Life and soul of the party': Wendy Fawell remembered at arena inquiry