GettyA survivor of the Manchester Arena bombing is taking in the daughter of her best friend who died in the explosion, promising to treat her like her own.
Caroline Davies and Wendy Fawell were both waiting to pick up their kids after the Ariana Grande concert on Monday when Salman Abedi detonated his bomb.
Wendy died in the blast while Caroline was badly injured. Despite her injuries Caroline has vowed to look after Wendy’s 15-year-old daughter Charlotte, The Mirror reports.
Wendy Fawell - FacebookCaroline said:
I’ll never replace Wendy but I will always be there for her. I’d do anything for her and I’ll love her like she is my own. I’ve been like a second mum to Charlotte anyway. I have said she can live here if she wants to. There is always room for her here.
Charlotte is currently staying with Caroline’s family in Otley, West Yorks and admitted that identifying her mother’s body ‘hit her hard’ as it was the first time she realised that her mum wasn’t coming home.
PAShe explained:
It scared me, because [her mum] was my best friend and she has always been there for me. She was amazing and always put others before herself. But I know Caroline’s family will be a second family to me – they have done so much for my mum and me. They are everything to me.
Caroline has already been like a second mum to me so I know she will look after me.
Caroline and Wendy were exceptionally close, almost like sisters, and the pair had spent the evening browsing the shops in Manchester while they waited for Charlotte and Caroline’s sons Ben, 12 and Lee, 16.
PAWendy was estranged from her husband, so Charlotte and her 29-year-old brother Adam are now arranging her funeral. They’re planning to cremate Wendy and scatter half her ashes at her favourite holiday spot, Lyme Regis beach in Dorset.
Charlotte will hold on to the other half of the ashes so she can feel close to her mother.
Caroline and Wendy met two years ago while working as lunchtime supervisors at a primary school. They became fast friends even going on holiday together with their kids.
Wendy Fawell - FacebookCaroline said:
It was like I’d known her my whole life. We opened up to each other straight away. We were best friends. I’d only known her for two years but we’d been through a lot.
We went on holiday to the seaside last year. She went through a messy separation with her ex and she practically lived here for over a year, apart from going home to sleep. We were really close, like sisters.
St Oswald’s Primary School, where Wendy worked paid tribute to her on Twitter, they tweeted: “‘It is with deepest sadness that I confirm that our former colleague Wendy Fawell was killed in the Manchester bombing. RIP, Wendy.”
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.