I am now 16 and am currently taking my GCSE’s. When I was 14 years old, I was seriously injured in the Manchester Arena Attack. I suffered 29 separate injuries, including a broken arm, two broken legs, severe burns, facial and internal injuries. There wasn’t any part of my body that hadn’t suffered the effects of shrapnel. My injuries were like those you would see from a battlefield in a war zone. I was admitted to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital at where I remained for over five weeks. I have now been in surgery on 14 occasions and for a total of over 70 hours. I’ve never shied away from telling people what has happened to me. I, for some reason that I can’t explain, take comfort in sharing my story with people.
I feel incredibly honoured to be asked to speak at the Rocking Ur Teens Girls Empowerment Conference. I hope that hearing my story will inspire other teenagers; I feel a sense of pride explaining to people that I managed to find light in the most unimaginably dark situation.