Pop fans Ava Turner and Catherine Burke were just 10 years old when they watched their idol Ariana Grande sing on stage for the first time.
What should have been the best night of their young lives quickly transformed into the worst when a terrorist unleashed carnage in the foyer of Manchester Arena.
Catherine and her parents were making their way home and were just five metres from extremist Salman Abedi, 22, when his shrapnel-laden homemade bomb exploded, inflicting them with serious injuries.
Ava and her mother were watching US star Ariana’s encore and escaped unhurt.
But all of them were traumatised by the attack on May 22, 2017 that killed 22 people and the attacker, and left 1,017 injured.
Since then the teenagers have formed a firm friendship that has seen them through the hardest of times while singing together in the Manchester Survivors Choir.
They have met celebrities such as Ed Sheeran and sung uplifting hits in front of huge crowds, and will be together again this month to mark the five-year anniversary.
Now 15, Catherine, from Manchester, had been attending her first-ever gig and was later comforted by Ariana in hospital.
She said: “I used to love singing Ariana’s songs in the kitchen with my dad so I was really looking forward to seeing her concert.
“I have a few clear memories from the night, including what I ate before the concert and what happened afterwards.
“I was walking through the foyer when the bomb detonated. I remember hearing a noise then I didn’t hear anything. I fell to the ground and went into shock.
“Everything was just ringing in my head. I was on the ground and the first thing my parents thought was to get me out of there, so they tried to carry me.
“I remember screaming in pain as I was being moved, but my mum knew it was a bomb so they were determined to get me out. Eventually I went numb to it all because I was falling asleep from the shock.”
Catherine suffered shrapnel wounds down her right side, broke a leg and lost the hearing in her right ear, and needed months of treatment.
Mum Ann, 51, and dad Darah, 52, also suffered serious wounds to their legs and feet and were lucky to make it out alive.
Darah, a GP, bravely returned to help the injured after getting his daughter to safety.
Ariana gave Catherine a cuddly bear as she recovered in hospital, and posted a photo of their meeting on her Instagram page.
Soon after, the family joined the choir, which began in late 2017 with around a dozen members but now has more than 60.
Coached by 35-year-old professional musician Sarah Adams, they rehearse poignant songs like This Is Me from the Greatest Showman at a fire station in Manchester.
Catherine and Ava joined ahead of the first anniversary of the attack. At the time Ava, also now 15, was confronting troubling memories of the tragedy. She had been given tickets to the 2017 show and went along with mum Fiona, 47, from Wigan.
Ava said: “We were only 11 when we started with the choir. I joined at a time when what happened was starting to affect me a lot.
“It was confusing. We had a lot of support but sometimes I felt alone with my thoughts.
“We’d gone through something so dramatic but, because our friends weren’t there, they didn’t understand it as much. At choir we all understand each other that little bit better because we’ve all been through the same event. It makes you feel that you’re not alone.
“We sing positive songs, eat cake and chat. It really helps and I always look forward to going to choir. Catherine and I didn’t know each other but we started standing next to each other as we both sing in the lower range.
“We have become best friends.”
Recalling her memories of that terrible day, Ava added: “It was such a good night until that moment. I had been to a few concerts before and you always get that thrill when the lights go off and you’re like, ‘Oh my God.’
“Ariana had a big suspenseful opening and confetti and balloons. At that point, I was probably thinking it was the best night ever.
“I was still in the arena, a few rows from the foyer, when the device went off. I remember people running towards me. Everyone tried to get out of there and I also turned and ran.
“I didn’t know what it was. There was a loud noise, like someone hitting a drum, and people were running. It was so chaotic.”
Student Lucy Jarvis, 22, credits the choir with helping her get back on her feet, literally.
Lucy almost died in the blast and doctors warned her she might never walk again and could lose a leg as her injuries were so severe.
She still has pain in her ankles but can now walk unaided after almost two years of physiotherapy. She said: “I’ve only got snapshot memories. I remember being on the floor and feeling really hot, but I didn’t think anything of it until I looked at my legs and saw all the blood.
“I was in and out of consciousness, then in a coma. I was about to turn 18 and my friends were going out and having fun, but I couldn’t because I was in a wheelchair and trying to learn to walk.
“I lost a lot of friends. It was one of the worst periods.
“When they asked if I wanted to join the choir, I said, ‘I can’t sing so I’m not going to be any help.’
“But I have come to realise it’s so much more than singing. I have made so many friends. We’ve all been through the same thing so we understand each other. I was with the choir when we performed at opera singer Russell Watson’s tour.
"I’ve met celebrities like Paddy McGuinness. What happened hasn’t put me off going to concerts. I saw Ariana Grande three times in 2019. We sent her a ‘thank you’ video and while we don’t sing her songs, as that might be too upsetting for some members, we would like to perform for her.”
Social worker Cath Hill was at the 2017 gig with son Jake, now 15, and escaped unhurt. She set up the choir after almost getting caught up in a second terror attack while on holiday in Spain in August 2017 when a man drove a van into pedestrians in Barcelona, killing 13.
Cath, 47, of Lancaster, and her son were in a hotel in a nearby town and came home with PTSD. She said: “I wanted to start a choir as some parents were talking about the issues their children were having in getting back into singing and dancing.
“The children were feeling disconnected from their friendship groups and many young people were facing long waiting times for counselling.
“I kept thinking, our love of music brought us together for the concert so it could also help us get through this.
“In the early days there was lots of anxiety in the choir – things like being in crowded spaces and going into the city.
“It’s been wonderful seeing them laughing and growing in confidence.
“We’ve had some amazing experiences and a lot of them don’t come to choir any more because they’ve gone off and got jobs or boyfriends.
“That’s lovely because that is what the choir was meant to do – to help them get on with their lives.”
