The youngest victim of the bombing attack at the Manchester Arena Stadium eight-year-old British Cypriot Saffie Rose Roussos was laid to rest on Wednesday almost two months after the terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 21 other people.
Saffie’s wicker casket, adorned with red roses, arrived in a silver hearse at Manchester Cathedral followed by the funeral cortege from Wythenshawe Hospital, where her mother, Lisa Roussos is still receiving treatment for her injuries suffered at the bombing attack.
Eight-year-old Saffie died from multiple injuries when a suicide bomber detonated his home-made bomb packed with nuts and bolts on May 22 at the exit of Manchester Arena following a concert of American singer Ariana Grande concert.
Saffie had gone at the concert to see her idol, along with her mother and older sister. Tickets to the concert was her Christmas present from her parents.
According to the Press Association, Lisa Roussos, 48, who was gravely injured herself, left hospital on Wednesday “to perform the hardest task of any parent, saying goodbye to her child and in the most horrific circumstances”. Saffie’s older sister Ashlee Bromwich, 26, was also injured.
The Press Association described how Lisa Roussos emerged from the lead car, refusing the offer of a wheelchair, instead pausing, limping, but determined to walk into the cathedral for her daughter’s service. Her right arm in a sling and hand bandaged up, she carried a red rose in her other hand.
Present were also Saffie’s father, Andrew, 43, her brother, Xander, 10, and older sister Ashlee. Andrew Roussos was among the pall bearers who carried Saffie’s coffin inside the church, the PA said, “just a few hundred yards from the scene of her death”.
Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral service carrying a single rose in memory of Saffie, a request from the family who invited anyone who had been touched by her to come to celebrate her short life.
According to the Daily Mirror, as the family entered the church behind the coffin, the song ‘Faith’ by Stevie Wonder and featuring Ariana Grande could be heard playing.
At the funeral, Ashlee, paid a tribute to her sister. A letter she wrote to Saffie said: “Everything I do from this day forward will be all for you. Saffie Rose, I love you.”
At the service, recorded messages of Saffie’s classmates were heard, while in his farewell message, Cyprus-born Andrew Roussos said that his daughter had a special charisma that would have made her a superstar.
A montage of photos, set to the music of Grande’s hit ‘One Last Time’, forming part of the funeral ceremony, was released by her family and friends, the PA said.
Saffie’s friends made a YouTube video clip showing a series of family snaps, with the eight-year-old happily playing with her brother Xander, smiling alongside her parents on family holidays, wearing make-up and dressing up. The aim is for the video, which was shown at her funeral, to be liked and shared using the hashtag #Saffiethesuperstar to fulfil her dream of becoming a YouTube star.
Ariana Grande, tweeted on July 4, the day when Saffie would have celebrated her ninth birthday, “Saffie, we’re (thinking) of you baby.”
Andrew Roussos, who decided to publicly speak out on his family’s loss on the same day, described his daughter as “a stunning young girl”, who loved dancing, music and gymnastics.
“She was a joker. She was a huge character. She was just everything you could wish for in a little girl,” Roussos said. He added that Saffie would love her pictures to be on, and to be spoken about on TV, as she loved fame and stardom.
Roussos also said that his wife, Lisa, was placed in an induced coma due to her injuries, but when she woke, she knew her daughter had died.
He said that when he met with Ariana Grande before her One Love Manchester concert in June, to help raise funds for those who were injured and the relatives of those who died in the attack, he told her he was thankful that Saffie had managed to enjoy her entire concert before she died and that the attack had not taken place before the singer had finished her performance.
“All she could say to me was, ‘I’m sorry’, and I said, ‘You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. You made Saffie so happy with what you do’.
