A teenager who was badly injured in the Manchester Arena attack has written a book in memory of her friend killed in the blast that also reveals how she rebuilt her own life.
Freya Lewis spotted bomber Salman Abedi, 22, yards away from her seconds before he detonated his device, killing her friend Nell Jones and 21 others.
She has dedicated What Makes Us Stronger to 14-year-old Nell.
Freya, who is now 17, said: “Writing a book was my main form of therapy. It helped me process it all.
“I also wanted it to be a legacy to Nell, to tell everybody what a wonderful person she was and I never want her to be forgotten.
“When I talk to my family, they say it wasn’t my fault. But there are days when I still feel that guilt.
“Bad days are triggered by something that reminds me of Nell, whether I’m in a shop where there’s make-up or when we drive past a place where we went together.”
As the third anniversary of the atrocity approaches, Freya recalled walking arm-in-arm with Nell moments after leaving the Ariana Grande concert.
“Nell went to put her drink cup in the bin and I got out my phone to text my dad,” she said.
“I saw a guy that I thought was a bit strange. He was motionless and seemed spaced out.”
Seconds later, her left arm was shattered, both legs were broken and she had multiple shrapnel wounds, facial injuries and burns.
Her father Nick found her about an hour later being treated. She said: “When I was in that ambulance on May 22, I was sure I was going to die.”
Freya suffered 29 injuries and surgeons even found bones from her mouth in her stomach. She was in hospital for five-and-a-half weeks, where she was visited by Ariana on the ward.
“Ariana made me happy again for the first time,” she said.
Freya, who has also fundraised for the NHS, has never returned to the Arena but said: “I’ve been to loads of concerts. I didn’t want to let what happened stop me from being happy.”
She still wears the leather jacket she was carrying, saying: “It helps remind me I was strong and almost bullet-proof.”
Freya also kept a lipstick belonging to Nell, her friend at Holmes Chapel High School, in Cheshire. “It makes me smile because it reminds me of Nell,” she said.
- What Makes Us Stronger by Freya Lewis, published by Seven Dials, £14.99.
