The teenage girl who inadvertently became the face of the Manchester Arena attacks after a picture of her injuries was seen around the world has spoken out.
Eve Senior, 14, was attending the Arianna Grande concert three months ago with her mother when a bomber Salman Abedi detonated his device, leaving her with shrapnel wounds.
Eve said she was unaware of the iconic picture for 10 days after the attacks as she lay in hospital, and when she eventually found out she was embarrassed to be connected with it.
Eve Senior, 14, who became the face of the Manchester Arena attacks after this image of her being carried away from the scene went around the world, has spoken of her ordeal
Miss Eve said she was not even aware of the picture for 10 days afterward as she lay in hospital, and when she found out she dyed her hair to stop people recognising her
The teenager even dyed her hair in an effort to stop people from recognising her.
She said: ‘If you look at the photo I had blonde hair and you can see it has blood in it. I looked down it was all red.
‘After that I wanted to dye it because it made me cringe. At first I didn’t want to be remembered as that girl who was in all the newspapers.
‘Now when I think about that photo it’s not a big deal.’
Eve had been attending the concert along with 39-year-old mother Natalie and younger sister Emilia after being given the tickets as a Christmas present.
Conscious of the long drive back to Yorkshire after the concert, Natalie had decided to leave early in order to get out of the car park.
That fateful decision would put them within the blast radius of Abedi’s backpack bomb when the terrorist decided to pull the trigger.
Eve, who speaks calmly about her memories of the attack, said: ‘I remember being thrown really far forward.
‘Everything was pitch black apart from the lights flickering behind me.
Mother Natalie, 39, was also caught up in the blast along with youngest daughter Emilia, 12. She says she still worries about the psychological impact on her daughters
Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera was just one of dozens to print Eve on the front page
Both the New York Post (pictured) and the New York Daily News used Eve on their front page
‘At first I thought my legs were on fire, but it was just my jeans. A woman came up behind me and kind of pulled me up and said “we need to get out”.
‘At first it was absolutely silent in the foyer, or it seemed that way. It wasn’t until we got outside people started screaming and shouting.
‘We were walking out across the bridge. My sister had already ran out because she had jumped straight back up, but my mum was just behind me.
‘In my head I thought my legs were fine, but when we got to the stairs I realised I couldn’t get down them. I ended up just sliding down the banister.
‘It wasn’t until a police officer took me outside I saw all the blood on my legs.’
Eve suffered 14 shrapnel wounds, mostly to her legs. She also had two cuts on her shoulder, burns and nerve damage.
Mum Natalie suffered seven shrapnel wounds to her legs. Fortunately Emilia’s injuries were not as serious.
‘It wasn’t until we saw the army, all the police officers with guns and helicopters above that I realised how serious it was,’ Natalie said.
‘The next day when Eve was on the front of every newspaper it really hit home.’
Natalie and the girls’ dad Andrew have spent the past three months coming to terms with the physical and emotional impact of the attack.
The family said recent terror attacks in Barcelona and London were difficult to process following their own horrific experience.
Eve suffered 14 shrapnel wounds and now has nerve damage. Natalie said watching her daughter crawl up the stairs because she could not walk afterwards was the most difficult
Despite what the family has endured, Mrs Senior said they have tried to focus on the fact that the attack has pulled them closer together and turn it into a positive
‘When I saw the Barcelona attack on the news I felt for those families who had lost someone or been hurt like we had,’ Natalie said.
‘We’ve been through it so we know what a journey it is for any family caught up in it.
‘There are things as a mother that are really hard to deal with. For a while Eve had to crawl up the stairs because of her injuries and that was tough.
‘You worry about how they are, not just physically, but psychologically. I have made a pact to not hone in on the evil because hatred is the worst emotion. There’s absolutely no point.
‘For now Manchester is a massive part of lives and we still have a long way to go on our journey.
‘But I am very proud of how we have got through it as a family. We got through that night and we survived.
‘There’s always going to be a special bond between me and the girls because of it.’
Natalie said her family could not have got through the last three months without staff at Victim Support, who took them back tothe scene of the blast.
The family are also fundraising for the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. For information about both of these organisations – or to donate – visit victimsupport.org.uk/get-involved/donate and rmchcharity.org.uk/donate.