Remembering Manchester Arena bombing victims from Leeds - six years on from tragedy

Sorrell Leczkowski, 14, from Adel, Leeds; Courtney Boyle, a 19-year-old Leeds Beckett University student, and Wendy Fawell, 50, from Otley died as a result of the blast. They will be remembered today (May 22) as the city marks the sixth anniversary of the tragedy.

There will be a sombre atmosphere in Manchester as people gather at the Glade of Light memorial, near the city’s cathedral, to pay their respects. Two one-minute silences will take place at Manchester Victoria Station, one at midday and the other at 10.31pm, the time the attack occurred.

More than 1,000 people were injured and 22 people were murdered when terrorist Salman Abedi detonated a bomb in the foyer of Manchester Arena as people left an Ariana Grande concert on May 22 2017. Among those who lost their lives was Wendy Fawell, a mother from Otley. An inquiry heard that she was killed in the bombing after having moved apart from her friend seconds before the blast. She was described as a "fun person" and "the life and soul of a party" whose caring nature "meant she tried to mother everyone".

14-year-old Sorrell Leczkowski, from Adel, suffered unsurvivable injuries to her neck in the attack. An inquiry heard that her mother Samantha, who was injured, pleaded with police not to let her daughter die. She was described as a clever and determined girl who loved school and had already planned out her future.

Courtney Boyle, 19, was enjoying life as a Leeds Beckett University student when she was murdered in the bombing, her mother told the inquiry. Deborah Boyle said that daughter Courtney, who loved music, had grown into an independent woman and was “the happiest” she had seen her.

It has been reported today that nearly a third of young survivors have not had professional help since being caught up in the attack, as the results of a survey of 236 young people who were affected was published. Around 70% had no professional help within the first month and 29% had not received psychological help at all, despite most feeling that they needed support. It came ahead of a draft “survivor’s charter” that is expected to be published by the government in a matter of weeks, guaranteeing rights for survivors of terror attacks, including mental health support.

A survivor of the attack spoke this week about how he felt “lonely” and “abandoned” during his recovery. Paul Price, 55, whose partner Elaine McIver died in the blast as he waited for his 13-year-old daughter and friend to come out of the Ariana Grande concert, backed an appeal from a trauma charity set up by a Leeds surgeon to help people who have suffered injuries in various circumstances.