Manchester Arena Inquiry: Martyn Hett's 'memory will shine brightly forever

Martyn Hett crammed more into his 29 years than most people do in a lifetime. These are the touching words of his father Paul Hett during an emotional "pen portrait" to his "amazing son".

Over the next two weeks, the relatives of the 22 people killed in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing will provide a personal insight into the lives of their loved ones and how their lives were changed forever.

A video montage comprising clips of Martyn with his friends and family was played to the inquiry.

"Martyn made many hilarious videos enjoyed by people all over the world," Mr Hett said. "We hope this one is up to his very high standards."

His father remembers how Martyn, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, showcased a love for acting and performing from an early age, adding his "life was so vibrant, so full of energy".

"How would I describe Martyn's personality in one simple word - fun. He had the most wicked sense of humour," Mr Hett said.

Martyn's mother Figen Murray said he had "the most incredible passion for life" and an "energy that was exhausting at times" living at "100 miles an hour".

"He had this catching charisma about him," she said. "Everybody just loved him."

"He was proud of who he was, he believed in who he was."

She said his loss has left "this absolutely massive, gaping hole inside my soul."

Stepfather Stuart Murray said Martyn's life was "so colourful and vibrant and packed with adventure".

He said he had a desire to "create and perform" and the relationship between mother and son was "something special" and the sound of them laughing together "will be missed most of all".

He loved making videos of her "and letting it lose on the internet".

He recalled the "many, many disasters that seemed to happen to him, like losing his house keys yet again, or falling asleep on a train and waking us up in the middle of the night in Nottingham with no money at 2am on a Saturday night".

But Martyn had "the power to put it all right in an instant with drunken messages in the middle of the night saying how much he loved you".

He had "a generosity of spirit the likes of which I expect I'll never meet again".

Social media manager Martyn, who had a picture of Deirdre Barlow in prison tattooed on his leg, was a "Coronation Street super fan" with many of the cast attending his funeral.

"Ironically, sadly, this was one of the main reasons we were able to identify Martyn so soon after the tragedy - after all who else would have such a tattoo," his father told the inquiry.

Martyn had a growing social media following and had appeared on TV a number of times, including on shows such as Come Dine With Me and Tattoo Fixers.

A play based on Martyn's life through the eyes of his closest friends and titled #BeMoreMartyn: The Boy with the Deirdre Tattoo is now touring across the UK.

"The message from that play is very clear. In your life you should just go for it. Just do it and don't leave anything out," Mr Hett added.

"This is the way Martyn lived his life and we should all be more like Martyn."

Two days after the bombing, Martyn was due to fly to America for an eight-week holiday after spending two years saving for the trip.

"Martyn's future was so bright. He had just been promoted at work and was ready to go on the holiday of a lifetime - this was cruel beyond belief."

"Due to Martyn's huge social media following, we have been asked many, many times by people 'is Martyn Hett your son?'.

"And we reply with all the pride in the world 'yes - Martyn is our son'," his father added.

His older brother Dan joked that "as a kid I'm sure I would have light-heartedly described Martyn as my idiot brother and as an adult I suppose I did as well".

"We were a good example of how two kids can be brought up together and be very close but as people still be worlds apart - not that I ever saw this as a bad thing at all," he added.

"He was by far and away the most confident of all three of us - he was the loudest, he was the showman, he was the centre of attention at all times."

He added "explaining to my sons that Uncle Martyn had died was an extremely difficult thing to do" but he hoped to instil in his children "the overwhelming positive influence Martyn had on all of us".

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