‘Saffie’s gone, isn’t she?’ Heartbreaking first words of mother of youngest Manchester attack victim after waking from coma

The father of the youngest victim of the Manchester Arena terror attack has paid tribute to his daughter on what would have been her ninth birthday.

Eight-year-old Saffie Roussos was one of 22 people killed in the bombing at an Ariana Grande concert on May 22.

In an interview with BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire show, her father Andrew Roussos said she was a ‘stunning young girl’ and ‘a huge character’.

Saffie was at the concert with her mother, Lisa, and her sister Ashlee Bromwich, 26, who were both injured in the blast.

Lisa was placed in an induced coma by doctors. Mr Roussos said that when she woke up, her first words were: ‘Saffie’s gone, isn’t she?’

Mr Roussos, from Leyland, Lancashire, said: ‘We’ve lost everything, because life will just never be the same.

‘We didn’t want to just let her birthday pass. Saffie loved the limelight and I just wanted to celebrate Saffie’s birthday through doing this.

‘You couldn’t be out with Saffie without having fun, but her dream was to be famous. It was her everything and we bought her the tickets for Christmas.

MORE: Hundreds attend vigil to remember Manchester bombing victim Martyn Hett in his hometown of Stockport
MORE: Forklift truck driver cradled dying bomb victim Saffie, 8, and told her, ‘You’ll be OK’

‘She was just counting the days, the seconds and it was just Ariana Grande until nine, ten o’clock at night. And she would sing and dance every single song.’

Mr Roussos, who said ‘all hell broke loose’ at the arena after the bomb, was later told by a police detective that Saffie had died.

He said: ‘I couldn’t take it in. I just sat there looking at him. It’s just your worst nightmare. I didn’t know what to say, I didn’t know what to think.’

He described his wife, who is still recovering from her injuries following multiple operations, as ‘a soldier’ for fighting her way back to health.

He recalled that when his wife regained consciousness, she already knew their daughter had died.

‘She just looked at me and said, “Saffie’s gone, isn’t she?” I said, “Yeah”. She goes: “I knew”.’

Mr Roussos said Saffie was ‘everything you could wish for in a little girl’.

He added: ‘She loved dancing, music, gymnastics. If she wanted something, she would do it.’

He described how he, Saffie’s older sister and ten-year-old brother, Xander, are coping with their loss.

‘We do a little bit of laughing, a little bit of joking, a little bit of crying and cuddling, and that’s how we get through the day.’

Mr Roussos met Ariana Grande before the singer performed at the One Love Manchester concert in June in tribute to the victims of the bombing.

‘I wanted to tell her what she meant to Saffie,’ he said. ‘I wanted to tell her I don’t want her to blame herself.

‘All she could say to me was, “I’m sorry”, and I said, “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. You made Saffie so happy with what you do”.

‘She thanked me. She appreciated me telling her that.’

Ms Bromwich, who described being thrown to the ground by the explosion, said of Saffie: ‘She was Ariana Grande-obsessed, so to see how happy she was, it was just… obviously I had to go with her. She was so happy, just elated all night.’