'Saffie is so much more than youngest bomb victim'

The parents of Saffie Roussos want their daughter to be remembered as "something much more than the youngest victim" of the Manchester Arena bombing.

Saffie was just eight years old when she was killed - along with 21 others - when a bomb was detonated at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017.

Her parents Andrew and Lisa Roussos, from Leyland, Lancashire, have written a book, sharing how they turned their grief into a story of hope.

Mr Roussos said: "We are responsible for Saffie - we are her voice, her spirit. Everything we do now is for that little girl."

"It was important for us to close a chapter on 2017. It's a hell of a battle to go through what happened," he said.

"Saffie's always been the youngest victim, which is something that we embrace as she was.

"But moving forward Saffie is something much more than the youngest victim.

"It was important for us to channel that into a book, tell it from our own words, our own perspective and close that chapter of 2017 to move positively forward with Saffie."

Saffie was leaving the concert with her mum and sister when Salman Abedi detonated a homemade explosive on the evening of 22 May 2017.

Mrs Roussos spent six weeks in a coma and only learned of Saffie's death from her husband when she regained consciousness.

Hundreds more were also injured in the blast in the arena's foyer.

Mrs Roussos told BBC Breakfast that they wanted to give others who face unimaginable heartbreak hope, by sharing their daughter's story.

"There is hope. You think there isn't but there is," she said.

"As long as you have that hope in whatever it is you want to do moving forward, it does give you that little bit of something to carry on."

She said they were just "a normal, regular family [who] did everything together" before their lives "just completely changed".

"Saffie was such a huge part of the family," she said.

"She took centre stage all the time so to suddenly not have that and cope and move forward, it was extremely difficult."

Mrs Roussos said they also wanted to praise the medics at Wythenshawe Hospital, where she was treated for her injuries.

"They were amazing and still are amazing," she said.

Mr Roussos described the care as "above and beyond", adding "to this day they are close friends with us".

The book, titled Saffie, was written by investigative reporter David Collins, who said her parents wanted to "capture who Saffie was as a person".

"They are such a special family and I mean that from the bottom of my heart," he said.

"The reason their story resonates with the entire nation and public is because we see our own families and ourselves in them.

"It could have been anybody."

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