Message to terrorists from Ribble Valley resident who survived the Manchester Arena suicide bombing

Ruth (48), from Copster Green, said of the attack by Brenton Tarrant, which killed 50 Muslims including three-year-old Mucad Ibrahim: “Murdering innocent children is disgusting. For the sake of that little boy, we must not let them win.”

Ruth, who suffered serious injuries in the Manchester Arena suicide bombing, said that when she heard of the New Zealand attack she thought: “Oh my God, not again.”

She said: “It was a feeling of dread. I was taken back to Manchester. I felt so angry. But we must remember they are a minority. They cannot win."

Ruth, an ambassador for the network Survivors Against Terror, sent some peace lilies and a card that said, “sometimes, words are not enough”, via a friend to Beardwood and Lammack Prayer Rooms in Blackburn.

In total, 22 people were killed in the Manchester Arena bomb attack and more than 800 injured.

Ruth and her daughter Emily, were both seriously injured when suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated a home-made device at an Ariana Grande concert on May 22nd, 2017.

Spending six weeks in the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital after the attack - between them, Ruth and Emily, who is a pupil at St Augustine's RC High School at Billington, had 10 operations to remove shrapnel from their bodies.

During the bombing, a bolt travelled 15cms through Ruth’s leg while Emily suffered seven shrapnel wounds from flying debris.

The mother and daughter have received hours of therapy after being diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and have undergone counselling.