The mother of murdered teenager Olivia Campbell has urged Manchester to come together and remain united in the wake of Monday night’s terrorist attack which killed 22 people.
Charlotte Campbell’s 15-year-old daughter was attending the Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena with her friend when the bomb was detonated.
After the bombing Charlotte made a public appeal to find her daughter, but on Wednesday, she shared the tragic news that Olivia died in the attack.
Speaking at a vigil on Wednesday night, Charlotte urged people to not let the attack “beat us”.
“As a family, we’re united, we’re standing strong” I ask her friends, strangers, relatives to do the same,” she told the crowd
“Please stay together, don’t let this beat any of us, please. Don’t let my daughter be a victim.”
Speaking through tears, Campbell thanked those who had come to the vigil for their support.
Over 150,000 people shared Campbell’s Facebook posts asking for information in the wake of the bomb.
“I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for us – for being here, for giving us your support, for sharing her everywhere,” Campbell told the crowd.
“This is such a hard time for us, I had to come, I didn’t know what to do, I don’t know where to be, I don’t know what to do.
“I just knew – something told me I had to come here.”
Following the attack on Monday night, Olivia’s mother and her stepfather Paul Hodgson issued an emotional plea on CNN, seeking the public’s help to find their daughter after they didn’t hear from her.
Olivia went to the concert with her friend Adam, her mother said and for weeks, the two wouldn’t stop talking about the upcoming show.
Campbell told CNN her daughter called from the venue before the attack.
“It was half past 8. She said the acts were amazing. She was waiting for Ariana to come on, she was so happy.
“She thanked me and said she loved me and that was the last I heard from her,” she said.