On May 22nd, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive following Ariana Grande‘s Dangerous Woman tour performance at Manchester Arena, killing 22 and injuring 59. Three of the reported victims are Georgina Bethany Callander, age 18; Saffie Rose Roussos, age 8; and John Atkinson, age 26. You can follow the developing story at NPR or The Guardian.
If you’re reading this, you’ve likely been to a concert or two before. You know what it feels like to be buzzing from the anxious excitement of finally seeing your favorite performer. You’ve seen the pure joy on strangers’ faces as they witness their idol’s performance. In that brief span of time, you connect with hundreds, maybe thousands, in a special way that only live music facilitates.
The entire arena singing to Ariana’s ‘One Last Time’ is heart-wrenching and chilling. 💔 #ManchesterBombing pic.twitter.com/lhxHwiwV5e
— Music Polls (@PopPoIls) May 23, 2017
When I was 6 years old, my mother took me to go see my favorite band, *NSYNC. I remember it as one of the best nights of my life, and my mom does too—we were both so happy to be creating that ecstatic memory together. Imagining the contrast in emotion at the Manchester Arena last night before and after Ariana Grande’s performance hurts. To take that love away from innocent people is deplorable. To steal the lives of young men and women, children, and their mothers at what should be a safe space, is truly sickening.
Taking action seems like the only way to cope with the sadness and pain of the vicious terrorist attack. Saint Audio has compiled resources for ways to assist the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing. We will continue to update this list as more opportunities become available.
- For those using Twitter, you can share posts of those looking for missing people. You can see tweets for those still missing using the hashtag #MissingInManchester.
- Manchester Evening News launched a JustGiving page to support the families of victims from the attack. You can donate to the fund here.
- Share hotlines for mental health support for victims of the bombings. Louise Nevin’s editorial for The Guardian shows how necessary mental health resources will be for all those affected by the Manchester Arena bombing. We’ve included the link to Manchester-based mental health support centres and hotlines. You can also share the link for Time To Change, which provides a number of support websites and phone lines on their site.
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