Woman who survived Manchester Arena bombing found dead

Eve Aston experienced depression and PTSD following attack, mother says

(Eve Aston/Facebook)

A young woman who survived the Manchester Arena bombing has been found dead at her home, her family have said.

Eve Aston, described by her mother as "one of a kind", was discovered in her bedroom in Finchield, Wolverhampton last month.

The circumstances surrounding the 20-year-old’s death are currently unknown.

Her mother, Amanda, said the 2017 bombing "took its toll" on Ms Aston, telling the Birmingham Mail her daughter had suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression since terrorist Salman Abedi detonated a bomb inside the venue in 2017, killing 22 innocent people

Ms Aston had been at the Ariana Grande concert that took place at the arena on the evening of 22 May.

"Ariana Grande's music got her through alongside her Dad who was with her at the time and guided her out," her mother wrote in a gofundme page set up to help pay for her daughter's funeral costs.

"Ariana Grande was her absolute idol."

She added: "Eve was one of a kind. Loud, funny, beautiful and caring does not even cover a tiny percentage of the person she was.

"Everywhere she was there was light in the room, she was that light, she would make her presence known with such a warm welcoming feeling. Everyone that she knew would always be put before herself, she was such a selfless person."

An inquiry earlier this year found that numerous opportunities to prevent the attack or reduce the death toll were missed.

The list of failings included inadequate risk assessments, a lack of awareness among security staff of the terror threat, and the failure to spot Abedi as suspicious or to have a security perimeter that would have caused the bomber to be searched.

Sir John Saunders, who chaired the inquiry, said that operators who violate a new legal duty, that was due to be introduced by the government, should be jailed.

“Doing nothing is not an option,” he said in June. “It should not be necessary to have security to protect us from murderers who have formed the intention to kill innocent members of the public, including children, in pursuit of their distorted beliefs.

“But while the terrorist threat remains, and it shows no sign of going away, we do need to have in place protective measures which provide security against the threat but do not prevent us enjoying the freedoms which are part of our way of life.”

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