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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Kirsty McCormack & Dan Haygarth

Liverpool dad who lost partner in Manchester Arena bombing holds back tears on GMB

A man who spent weeks in a coma after the Manchester Arena bombing fought back tears as he appeared on Thursday's Good Morning Britain.

Paul Price, 54, from Liverpool, lost his partner Elaine McIver in the 2017 attack that killed 22 people. He also suffered serious injuries himself and spent two weeks in a coma, followed by eight months in hospital after the bombing.

The dad-of-two appeared in the ITV documentary 'Worlds Collide: The Manchester Bombing', which continues tonight. He was also invited onto GMB by hosts Adil Ray and Charlotte Hawkins to discuss the night of the attack, reports the Mirror.

READ MORE: Liverpool FC fan dies after falling ill minutes before Champions League quarter final

As Adil asked Paul to describe his late partner Elaine, who was a detective constable with Cheshire Police, Paul replied: "Elaine, obviously she was everything to me, she was the love of my life, I was the love of her life. But she was one of these people that you meet and you feel like you had known her forever. She was someone, she had the ability to... you'd wanna open up to her.

He continued: "She was a great organiser, she was someone that everyone went to with their problems, she'd sort stuff out. You know, what can I say, to me she was everything, she was my world and now living without her every day is so difficult but I know she would want me to carry on and live the best life that I could and to be happy".

Paul Price, who was badly injured in the attack holds a picture of his partner Elaine McIver who was killed (ITV)

"I often think if the roles were reversed, I'd want her to live the best life possible and to be as happy as possible and I try and do that for me, for my children, and for Elaine", Paul added.

Adil and Charlotte also asked Paul about his daughter Gabrielle, who was 13 at the time of the attack, and was waiting for to be collected from the arena. He said: "Yeah I mean that was really upsetting, obviously on the night that she was waiting for her dad to pick her up, I was never gonna come.

"A couple sort of befriended them and managed to get them in a taxi and got them safely home, but it must have been so difficult for her to see me the way I was and I just felt helpless. It's been a journey. For her, she's been so brave, as has my son, both of them have been extremely brave. You know, you can't look inside their heads and from what I can see, she's doing everything that a normal 18-year-old should be doing now," he added.

Paul believes a man named Paul Reid, who was selling T-shirts at the concert, potentially saved his life as he stayed with him holding his hand immediately after the attack so paramedics could help others. The pair finally met in person last year whilst filming the ITV documentary.

Paul Reid said: "I tried to look for Paul in the weeks after the attack. I wanted to find out what happened to get some closure. I went into traumatic meltdown the day I left that bomb. Meeting Paul really helped."

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