The mother of a 14-year-old girl murdered in the Manchester Arena suicide bombing told the inquiry yesterday: “Losing one of my children has killed me. I may as well be dead.”
The harrowing statement by Samantha Leczkowski came on the first day of “pen portraits” from families of the 22 victims.
Daughter Sorrell died in the arms of her mum – seriously injured along with her own mother in the terror attack.
Samantha said in her statement: “We were a very happy family. Sorrell was my daughter and I was proud of her but she was also my best friend.”
She told how she continues to exist for the sake of her other two youngsters but said: “Losing one of my children has killed me. I may as well be dead.
“I have no life without Sorrell. I don’t care that my leg doesn’t work properly.
“I don’t care that I’m constantly in pain from it because the pain in my heart is the worst pain I have ever had and it won’t go away.
“I want Sorrell to come home. I think this is just a nightmare and I will wake up but I never do.
“I want to curl up in bed and never leave. I feel empty, I feel sick all the time.
“It’s like Groundhog Day, every day. I feel angry this was allowed to happen. I feel that I let her down and I didn’t save her. I am beyond devastated. I’m broken.
“As well as dealing with me and mum being blown up. I have to deal with seeing Sorrell blown up and die in my arms.”
She said her daughter’s bedroom at the family’s house in Leeds has remained untouched since the killing and she opens and closes the curtains every day.
“Sorrell’s senseless and wrongful death has left an entire family broken,” she added. “We look forward to nothing, we want to do nothing and we cry so much. Our house is not a home any more.”
Sorrell’s nanna Pauline was one of the victims worst injured in the 2017 attack.
Pauline’s other daughter, Sorrell’s aunt Stacie, said: “My mum, sister and niece were victims of pure hatred they never invited, a hatred they were not responsible for. My family will never be the same.”
The inquiry also heard about Coronation Street fan Martyn Hett, whose body was identified after the bombing partly due to his Deirdre Barlow leg tattoo.
Dad Paul said as he paid tribute to his “amazing son” in a video: “Who else would have such a tattoo?” Paul added that an “inspiring” play, Be More Martyn – The Boy With The Deirdre Tattoo, is now touring Britain.
He said Martyn, 29, was friends with many of the Corrie cast and they opened a park on the show with a memorial bench mentioning his name.
“Seeing it on TV makes us incredibly proud,” said Paul.
The mother of victim Eilidh MacLeod, 14, said her “world has been shattered into pieces”.
Mum Marion, from the Hebridean island of Barra, described her music-loving daughter as a “special” girl.
Islamist Salman Abedi, 22, blew himself up at the Ariana Grande concert.
His brother Hashem, 23, was jailed for 55 years for helping. The inquiry continues.
