The father of the youngest victim of the Manchester terror attack has spoken for the first time of his 'nightmare' after the death of his daughter.
Andrew Roussos spoke out for the first time about Saffie Rose Roussos, one of 22 people killed after an Ariana Grande concert, on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme.
Saffie, who idolised Ariana, had been at the concert with her mother Lisa and 26-year-old sister Ashlee Bromwich when she was killed by shrapnel in the blast.
In a moving interview on what would have been Saffie's ninth birthday, Mr Roussos spoke of the moment his wife, who had been placed in a coma by doctors, woke up and uttered the heart-breaking words "Saffie's gone isn't she".
Talking of his daughter, he said: "She was a joker. She was a huge character. She was just everything you could wish for in a little girl.
"She loved dancing, music, gymnastics. If she wanted something, she would do it.
"[She loved] fame, stardom.
"I knew that Saffie would love her pictures to be on, and to be spoken about on, TV.”
Mr Roussos recalled the moment he arrived at the scene of the atrocity, and found Ashlee being treated at the scene. However, amid frantic scenes, he was unable to find Saffie and his wife.
He said: "We just walked round and all the police were there. It was chaos.
"You're panicking and worrying. You don't know what's going on."
Eventually Mr Roussos got word from Salford Royal Hospital that they were caring for his wife, but he could not get any information about Saffie. He was later told by a police detective that she had died.
He said: "It's just your worst nightmare. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know what to think."
He added that wife Lisa, who was seriously injured in the blast and has been through several operations, is improving at a much quicker rate than doctors had expected.
He said the rest of the family were "all strong for each other", adding they do a “little bit of crying and cuddling” to “get through the day”.
Mr Roussos told the BBC he had met with Ariana Grande before her One Love Manchester concert in June.
He said: "I wanted to tell her what she meant to Saffie. I wanted to tell her I don't want her to blame herself.
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"All she could say to me was, 'I'm sorry', and I said, 'You've got nothing to be sorry for. You made Saffie so happy with what you do'."
