A mum and daughter who survived the Manchester Arena bombing atrocity are both studying at the same university to become nurses - inspired by the care they received as they recovered from injuries. A photograph of shocked Eve Senior limping barefoot and bleeding from the scene with her jeans torn was beamed around the world in the aftermath of the terror attack.
Eve, just 14 at the time, was badly burnt and and suffered shrapnel injuries in the blast. Days later, as she lay in bed at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, surrounded by nurses, she vowed she would one day join their ranks. Now, five years later, Eve is a proud student children's nurse.
And her mum Natalie, 44, who also suffered shrapnel injuries, is at the same university, training to become a mental health nurse. Both are coming to the end of the first year of their degree courses. Mum Natalie laughed: "We both started at the same time but I was not allowed to join in fresher's week. She did not want to see her mum in the pub!"
Eve, now 19, was leaving the Ariana Grande concert with her mum and younger sister Emilia, now 16, when suicide bomber Salman Abedi, 22, detonated his home-made device yards from them on May 22, 2017, reports The Mirror. The attack claimed 22 lives. Thankfully Emilia was not badly injured but both Eve and her mum, of Queensbury, near Bradford in West Yorkshire, were taken to hospital.
Eve recalled: "I can remember being in hospital and I had two nurses in particular that I really got along with. I remember sitting in my hospital bed a couple of days after the attack thinking, 'this is what I want to do. I want to be a children's nurse'."
She worked hard at school and earned a place at Huddersfield University in West Yorkshire. Mum Natalie, who suffered PTSD in the wake of the atrocity, had also made a life-changing decision.
She said: "We had a lot of dealings with a lot of different mental health people and after a while I thought maybe it was something I could do. It shows how something as big as Manchester makes you re-evaluate everything." She did voluntary work in the sector and took access courses before she, too, booked her university place.
And after 17 years working with her husband Andrew, 46, at the family's electrical and security business, she quit her job and took the plunge into a new career. Eve admitted she had mixed feelings when she realised her mum would be joining her at the same seat of learning. Smiling, she said: "Initially I was like, 'oh, God', but now it is quite good, we can do similar assignments."
Natalie added: "We don't really bump into each other on campus, we go in on different days really." Eve says her mum puts her to shame by handing in her coursework days ahead of schedule. "She always gets everything submitted on time and I'm always a bit last minute," she laughed.
Natalie said: "I have to work at it where as she can do an assignment in a day that takes me a week." The highlight of Eve's first year has been getting to work on the children's wards. She added: "So far I've had a placement at Calderdale Hospital in Halifax, which I absolutely loved.
"On my first day, I found out my mentor was working in the ICU at Manchester Royal Infirmary at the time of the attack, so we had a bit of a bond." Before setting off to work she had showed her mum her uniform.
"I tried it on with my mum and it felt a bit emotional but it felt good. I felt it was a big achievement. I always said I wanted to be a children’s nurse but I don’t know if everyone thought I would do it." She will also work at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, where she has herself been treated.
Eve, who has had a series of operations over the years, requires further plastic surgery this month. "It will be nice to go to Pinderfields because I still go there, I'm still having operations there," she said. Next week the family will remember the 22 people who died in the attack five years ago when they visit the Glade of Light memorial, which is alongside Manchester Cathedral. It was officially opened by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge earlier this week.
Natalie added: "We always go over on the anniversary. It is a tough day but it will be a day we always mark."
