A mum who was badly injured in the Manchester Arena terrorist bombing has slammed the compensation offered to her as an 'insult'.
Lisa Bridgett survived Salman Abedi's suicide attack on May 22, 2017, but lost the middle finger on her left hand when she was hit by a steel nut from the bomb detonated in the arena’s foyer, WalesOnline reports. She said she was offered just £550 in compensation for the loss of her finger.
The 50-year-old, from Mynytho, on the Lyn Peninsula, had gone to collect her daughter Ashleigh and a friend from the Ariana Grande concert when Abedi detonated the bombing killing 22 people and seriously injuring hundreds of others. She was standing just five metres away from the bomber.
As well as the injury to her finger, Lisa was left with a steep nut embedded in her nose that has left her with scarring and lifelong breathing difficulties. She also suffered a broken right ankle and, like hundreds of others, Lisa was also left carrying mental scars, having been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Distress Order (PTSD).
More than five-and-a-half years on, she has yet to receive a single penny in compensation from the UK government. For her three injuries, Lisa was awarded a total of £17,350 by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) scheme – but she rejected the offer as a 'joke'.
Lisa is now involved in a civil claim for compensation. She said: "I think it’s appalling. I’ve been unable to bring myself to accept the offer made to me by the CICA so far as I feel it’s simply an insult. It’s like offering scraps of help.
"It’s all done by working to a spreadsheet and a table of payments dependent upon the physical and psychological injury suffered. How can that be right?
"They give you 100 per cent of the set award for what they class as your first injury, 30 per cent for your second injury and then 15 per cent for your third injury. They have offered me £13,500 for mental injuries, which they have classed as not lasting for more than five years, £3,300 for my broken ankle as the second injury and £550 for the loss of my finger as the third injury.
"It’s a joke. I simply don’t think it reflects the suffering of all from that night.
"I’ve been left always looking over my shoulder, untrusting, unable to breathe properly, and unable to type having lost a finger. Not a day goes by when you don’t think back to what happened."
Initially, Lisa, a managing director of Blue Water North Wales Ltd, a boat company based at Pwllheli marina, received support through public donations and fundraising events. This, she said, was a 'tremendous help'.
But for those unable to work, or return to normality, the money has, or will be, long gone, she said. The government has a duty to support Arena victims, she said.
"Or anyone else involved who let us down that night", she added. "They’ve given me a deadline to accept the offer in April or it will be taken off the table.
"I think it’s a terrible way to treat people who have been through so much. Had we all been injured by an airplane falling from the sky we would all have had significant compensation and support to help us.
"Somebody would have been held responsible. As yet nobody has been held responsible and that needs to change, as it was entirely preventable.
"The Inquiry highlighted just how poor the security was." Overall, 45 per cent of CICA claims were rejected altogether.
Figures published last year revealed that, of 741 applications for compensation relating to physical and mental injuries, 331 did not result in a financial award. In her fight for proper redress, Lisa is being represented by Hudgell Solicitors, a national firm with offices in Manchester and Hull.
Its lawyers are now preparing civil claims for compensation, due to be launched before the end of the year. At a public inquiry into the bombing, the firm acted on behalf of two families who lost loved ones, and more than 150 injured survivors.
Solicitor Terry Wilcox said the action will target organisations that were 'exposed for catastrophic failures in their duties and responsibilities' to protect people injured at the Manchester Arena. He said: "In close to six years since the attack happened, no organisation has stepped forward with an offer to make things right for those who have suffered so immeasurably.
"Every day we speak to , and to the people who were left so badly injured, both physically and psychologically, by what happened. It is a lifelong impact for them.
"They need to be fully compensated for the unimaginable suffering they’ve endured. Whilst we can never erase the horrors of the past, we can hopefully now work to help people towards a better future."
Looking ahead, Lisa said a civil claim may be the 'only way to get some form of justice'. In the years after Arena attack, the mum-of-two underwent further operations to repair the damage to her nose.
For her and her family, the bombing continues to have an enduring impact. "You never recover and you never move on, it’s always there, you live with it," she said.
"Ashleigh never talks about it, but I know she blamed herself for what happened as we were there for her. It has affected her but she can’t talk about it.
"You can be in the safest place in the world, and you don’t feel confident it’s safe anymore. I’ve had to do my best to learn to live with the fact that I was there, and with what happened to me. Everyone else is the same.
"I’m fortunate in that I was able to get back to work at my own business. But for many, they have not been able to work again, left with even more serious injuries, and of course lost loved ones. For it to go beyond six years to compensate people is appalling.”
The third and final report of the public inquiry into the Manchester Arena terrorist bombing is due to be published today. The report, due to be released at 2pm, is expected to address what was known by the security services prior to the May 2017 atrocity.
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