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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Entertainment
Emma Gritt

Ariana Grande still sends Christmas presents to children in Manchester hospitals

Ariana Grande has continued her tradition of sending Christmas presents to children spending the festive season in hospitals across Manchester.

The singer, 29, has close ties to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital after it helped many of the victims after a suicide bomber struck at the end of her 2017 Manchester Arena concert.

Ariana's generous gesture was confirmed by the hospital's social media team, who shared a photo of a pile of presents beneath a tree with a framed piece of paper reading, "Thank you Ariana."

Their tweet read: "Thank you Ariana! We were so excited to receive Christmas gifts for young patients across our hospitals from Ariana Grande. "

It added that gifts were given out on children's wards and new born intensive care units at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, plus North Manchester General Hospital, Wythenshawe Hospital and Saint Mary's Hospital.

Ariana Grande performed at Old Trafford Cricket Ground weeks after the attack (Dave Hogan for One Love Manchest)
The Tweet revealing Ariana had once again shared gifts for sick children (RMCHcharity/Twitter)

The Manchester bombing was carried out by Salman Abedi, after being planned by him and his brother Hashem, who is now serving a minimum jail term of 55 years.

The bomb went off in the foyer of the arena at 10:31pm, just as people were leaving. It left nearly 1,000 people were injured, and triggered mass panic as the sound of the blast echoed through the building.

Abedi was reportedly seen on his phone and smiling just before the bomb went off, and an inquiry heard that he detonated the bomb even after a steward at the arena raised concerns, but was unable to get through to the control room. Failings by security staff were described as "unacceptable and unjustified".

Hours after the needless loss of life happened, Ariana tweeted: “Broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don’t have words.”

She bravely returned to the stage with a host of famous faces (Getty Images Europe)
Suicide bomber Salman Abedi (Daily Record)

Just two weeks later, she returned to the city to visit survivors in hospital, and met with some of the families who had tragically lost loved ones.

Then, to show that hate never wins, she staged a special One Love benefit concert at Old Trafford cricket ground where other stars including Take That performed alongside her.

Since the vicious terrorist attack, the 'Dangerous Woman' and 'thank u, next' singer has revealed her battle with PTSD and has honoured the victims with a tattoo. She opted for a worker bee, a symbol of the city and regarded by many Mancunians as representative of the hard work and community spirit that holds them together.

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