Manchester Arena attack survivor Freya Lewis spoke about her best friend Nell Jones and how she is 'living life for the two of them' as it approaches the fifth anniversary of the incident. Nell, 14, was one of 22 people murdered in the terror attack on May 22 2017.
Freya, of Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, was three metres from the blast and suffered 29 injuries, including two broken legs, a broken arm and facial injuries, but has since made a remarkable recovery. This Sunday, on the five-year anniversary, she will take part in the Great Manchester Run to raise funds for Royal Manchester Children's Hospital - that she credits with 'saving her life'.
On the night of the bombing, Nell told Freya that it was the best day of her life and the 19-year-old appeared on ITV's Lorraine this morning (May 19) to pay an emotional tribute to her close friend. She said: "It’s something I’ll forever be grateful for because I’d never seen her so happy.
"She was wonderful. That’s what I hold close to me.
"I always say that I live life for the two of us and I like to think I’m carrying her with me throughout everything I do. Hopefully I will do for the rest of my life because she’ll always be with me."
Freya will be attempting to run 10k on Sunday but she admitted that she would be proud if she managed to run 5k and walked the rest. "I hate exercise so the idea of running a 10K is crazy but hopefully I’m aiming to run about 5K of it in total," she added.
"If I do that, then I’ll be proud of myself. I’m running Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital charity - the hospital that saved my life.
"The run is on the anniversary so I think that will be a wonderful way to celebrate it. I’ll be half running, half crying.
"Me and my family always make it to Manchester on the anniversary because the atmosphere is wonderful so as long as I’m with my family in the place I love then I’ll be okay. I’ve got some great friends coming as well to support me."
Freya told Lorraine that she is now studying acting and how her recovery finally gave her the self-belief to pursue her dream. She said: "[My dream is] just to act, hopefully on screen but wouldn’t mind stage either. I’ve always wanted to be an actor but just never had the self-belief until after the attack. I want to live the fullest that I possibly can."
Speaking about how she's changed in the past five years, Freya added: "I think I’m a much more appreciative person, I think I’m more loving and hopefully a better daughter and sister and friend.
"I just like to remind everyone in my life that I love them because you never know."
