The suicide blast at the end of an Ariana Grande concert killed 22 people and injured hundreds more. Learn more about the catastrophe and the tragic story of Martin Hibbert and his daughter Eve, who were survivors.
After the 2017 incident, Martin Hibbert was paralyzed from the waist down, and his adolescent daughter Eve suffered a significant brain injury.
He compared the blast to “being hit by a ten-tonne truck.”
Since the attack, Mr. Hibbert has completed several charity challenges and reportedly climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for the Spinal Injuries Association in September.
Ariana Grande’s Tour Bomb Blast Explained
An investigation heard that despite her horrific injuries, a teenage girl, Eva, who was assumed dead and covered in T-shirts in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing, made a “miracle” recovery.
Hibbert was hit by 22 shrapnel fragments, one of which severed his spinal cord.
Mr Hibbert says they were only 5 or 6 metres away from Salman Abedi when he detonated his device. He describes the moment of the blast and says it ‘beggars belief’ that they survived and are still here.
He says when he looked over to Eve ‘she was dying in front of my eyes.’— AMY WELCH (@amywelchitv) July 22, 2021
He covered Eve from the blast, but one of the bolts struck her in the head, causing a significant brain injury “almost like she had been shot through the head,” he revealed during a public hearing on the incident.
According to the investigation, Hibbert and Eve were evacuated by ambulance to separate hospitals roughly two hours after the bomb, a delay he characterized as “baffling.”
Who Is Martin Hibbert Daughter Eve Hibbert?
Martin Hibbert, 44, was along with his daughter Eve, then 14, when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest approximately five meters away at the end of the Grande concert.
In the aftermath of the explosion, Martin stated he looked towards his daughter and “one minute I could see her, she was there, and the next minute she was entirely covered.”
He said he saw her head covered on two occasions, with people assuming she was dead. “It was evident that everybody felt she had died,” he explained, “but because I was so near to her, I could see that even though I knew she was dying, she was still breathing, and you could see it.”
“You could see her lips quivering, and she was panting heavily.” Eve would not be here if I had lost consciousness, which was always a source of frustration for me.”
“People were looking at her damage and saying it wasn’t survivable,” he continued, “and they just covered her up even though she was still alive, and they weren’t qualified to make that sort of decision.”
“Even if they were, you do everything you can to assure the survival and life preservation.” You don’t just walk away after making that decision. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to comprehend that.”
Eve, now 18, spent ten months at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, where her family was told she would likely never be able to see, hear, speak, or move again.
She had, however, made a “miracle” recovery and was now able to see, hear, speak, and eat. “We believe she is the world’s lone survivor of that injury,” he stated.
“A paper has been written on her so that if anyone else gets hurt, they will learn how to care for them and get through it.”
Martin, who uses a wheelchair, said his daughter would require care for the rest of her life and that her mother, Sarah, had to quit her work to care for her full-time.
“But she’s still there, it’s still Eve, she’s still living, and I keep telling her that when she’s ready, she’ll inspire the world.” He described her as a “little princess.”