Olivia Campbell’s family have shared heart-warming tributes to the 15-year-old, who was one of 22 victims of the Manchester terror attack on Monday night.
Olivia has been described as a ‘funny and beautiful’ girl who ‘was born to sing and dance and lived life to the max’.
The youngster attended the Ariana Grande concert on Monday night at Manchester Arena with her friend Adam Lawler, who is still in a critical condition in hospital.
As her grieving family try to come to terms with their unspeakable loss, they have announced a recording of Olivia singing John Legend’s All Of Me – her favourite song – will be played at her funeral.
The talented 15-year-old, who was taking singing and ballroom dancing lessons at Stagecraft in her hometown of Bury, auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent in Manchester a few years ago.
Olivia’s mother, Charlotte, told Manchester Evening News:
She’d always be singing, wherever she was. She would sit in class and sing and get told off by the teachers.
I can’t put into words what she was like – she used to say ‘I’m speckle’ – you just had to meet her.
I feel lost. I’m heartbroken. I just want her to walk back through that front door and start giving me mither again and talking about boys and what not.
The Tottington High School pupil lived for her music and dreamed of becoming a music teacher.
Her stepfather, Paul, 47, said:
She would always be a bit shy when she first started singing but then she’d just belt it out. She was brilliant.
She could be fiery when she wanted and we were always joking around but that was Oli and there’ll never be another one. She definitely broke the mould.
Heaven has got another angel and she’ll be singing up there now with her grandad.
Olivia’s untimely death at a concert, designed to celebrate life and human creativity, is an unspeakable tragedy.
Paul said: “Britain’s got to learn from it, we’ve all got to learn from it. We can’t stop our children and keep them in all the time but we do our best to keep them safe,” adding that his thoughts are with Adam’s family.
Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and loved ones.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.