https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9025659/Sister-youngest-Manchester-Arena-bombing-victim-names-newborn-daughter-honour.htmlSister of youngest Manchester Arena bombing victim names newborn daughter Ever-Rose in honour of eight-year-old who died in terror blast
Saffie-Rose, eight, was the youngest of the Manchester Arena attack victims
Her sister, Ashlee Bromwich, 29, has given birth to a girl she named 'Ever-Rose'
Mother Lisa Roussos, 50, bought Ariana Grande tickets as a Christmas present
By Isabella Nikolic For Mailonline
Published: 09:20, 7 December 2020 | Updated: 09:37, 7 December 2020
The sister of the youngest Manchester Arena terror attack victim has named her firstborn child Ever-Rose in memory of her younger sibling who was just eight years old when she died in the blast. Saffie-Rose was one of the 22 victims who died in the horrific attack in May 2017 when Salman Abedi detonated a suicide bomb during an Ariana Grande concert. Her big sister Ashlee Bromwich, 29, was injured in the blast while their mum Lisa Roussos, 50, needed a series of operations to walk again. In the summer, revealing she was pregnant, Ashlee said: 'I am excited, of course, but sad because Saffie-Rose would have been such a wonderful aunty.'
The family has now revealed that Ms Bromwich gave birth on November 14 to a healthy baby daughter who she has named 'Ever-Rose'. On a Facebook page dedicated to celebrating the life of Saffie-Rose, the family wrote: 'Saffie-Rose Sister Ashlee was badly injured in the Manchester Arena attack November 14th 2020 Ashlee gave birth to Ever-Rose.'
The news and a photo of the proud mother and baby was posted by the family on the public Saffie-Rose Roussos Facebook group which has almost 10,000 members. It has also been shared on the 'Leyland Notice Board' public group for their Lancashire community where Saffie-Rose grew up. Hundreds of delighted members of the public 'liked' the post or commented to send the family their best wishes. Saffie-Rose was the youngest fatal victim of ISIS-inspired suicide bomber Salman Abedi, 22, who detonated a shrapnel-packed backpack bomb. In August Abedi's younger brother Hashem, now 23, was jailed for at least 55 years for helping plan the brutal massacre which left hundreds injured. In September, at the attack's public inquiry, mother Lisa Roussos said she, Ashlee and Saffie-Rose all attended the Ariana Grande concert together that night. They had bought the tickets for Saffie-Rose the previous Christmas as the US singer was her favourite artist. Mother Lisa lost contact with Saffie, who was carried to ambulances by members of the public, in the aftermath of the attack. Lisa crawled outside and was taken to Royal Bolton Hospital, undergoing three surgeries to have shrapnel removed from her leg.
She said her husband Andrew was at her hospital bedside when she regained consciousness. She said: 'Andrew held my hand and looked up at me. I instantly knew, Saffie has gone hasn't she? And he replied, ''yes''. I cried and begged and pleaded with him to let me die too. I can't look after her. I did die a little that day.'
She continued for the sake of her other children but told the inquiry in a video-recorded message: 'I am so desperate to hold her close and smell her hair and to feel her cheek on mine. My precious baby girl.'
She said Saffie looked up to her big sister Ashlee and absolutely adored her brother Xander, now 14, crying after dropping him off for his first sleepover. Lisa added: 'She had this amazing magnetic personality that drew people to her of all ages. I would just watch in wonder. She was special and I understood this the moment she was born.'
At Saffie-Rose's funeral in July 2017, sister Ashlee promised: 'Everything I do from this day forward will be all for you. Saffie-Rose, I love you.'
The youngster's coffin was carried out as the Somewhere Over The Rainbow rang out in Manchester Cathedral. Last summer, Ashlee also revealed in an interview she was pregnant and how she wished her little sister was alive to be the baby's auntie. She added: 'She was so, so loving and likeable. Being an aunty would have meant the world to her. I don't know if I am having a boy or a girl, but if it is a girl, I am giving her the middle name Rose. Either way, the baby will be constantly told about his or her lovely aunty Saffie-Rose who was killed by a cowardly monster with no regard for life. This baby will still have her as an aunty even if she can't physically be here.'
At the public inquiry Ashlee told chairman Sir John Saunders her sister 'would always be dancing, singing, spinning, doing acrobatics.'
Ashlee added: 'She was a born entertainer and I knew that for the rest of her life she would live to put a smile on everybody's face, even a stranger. Our family will never be the same. Each and everyone of us remains a spare part watching the world pass us by. I have lost the ability to feel such emotions other than grief and anger. It's like falling down a never-ending empty pit of sadness. The things that once brought us joy don't. How can we feel joy in our lives without Saffie? She was our joy. Saffie didn't know the horrors of this world. A child should be allowed to live an innocent life. At eight years old she should have only known of love and happiness and what she could only dream to become one day. She should never have had to experience that.'
