#remembering nell

Freya was only 14 years old when she was severely injured in the Manchester Arena bombing on May 22nd, 2017 at the Ariana Grande’s concert. The blast caused the death of 22 concert goers, including Freya’ best friend Nell (our article about the Remembering Nell Foundation), and the injury of other 250 people. Freya suffered several fractures and burns and she had to endure a total of 70 hours surgeries. Freya was in the hospital for 6 weeks and wheelchair bound for over 3 months. However, she showed an incredible determination from the start and, beating all odds, she was able to walk again. Freya’s parents commented on more than one occasion that Freya has a remarkable positive spirit which, not only was essential for her own recovery, but that also played an important role in the support of the whole family during the challenging time following the incident.

We have already published about Freya in the past because both Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson met her on different occasions (September 3rd, 2017 article, and May 15th, 2018 article). Freya is from Holmes Chapel, the same small town in Cheshire Harry Styles is from. So when Harry heard that Freya was among the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing and that she was a huge fan of his, he called her while she was still in the hospital. Also, in August of 2017, during his TV special in Manchester, Harry dedicated his song “Sign of the Times” to Freya and met her backstage.

Louis Tomlinson met Freya in May of this year at the National Health Service (NHS) Heroes Awards dinner, when he presented Freya with the Young Fundraiser Award for raising thousands of pounds for the Manchester’s hospital that treated her. Indeed, at the beginning of the year, Freya and her dad Nick had decided to run the marathon and a 2.5 K run respectively to raise funds for the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust Charity, even though Freya hadn’t completely recovered yet and may have needed to walk instead of running (our article here). It was even revealed that Freya had to postpone one surgery in order to participate in the run that took place on May 20th, 2018.

In July of this year, Freya was also named Ambassador to the new High Sheriff of Greater Manchester, Dr. Robina Shah (our article). As Ambassador of the High Sheriff, Freya will continue to inspire and to serve as a role model not only in the Manchester area but in all of Britain.

The Amplifon Awards for Brave Britons ceremony will take place on October 16th at the Army and Navy Club, Pall Mall, in London. The ceremony will be hosted by Falklands War hero Simon Weston. Freya will be in attendance with her dad Nick and may take home the Young Hero award.

Pictures are credited to Georgia Lewis’ Facebook account, to the Mirror, and to Amplifon UK.