Manchester bombing victim’s mum: ‘When I think of Martyn, all I can think of is smiling’
Martyn Hett’s mum has said she has “no feelings of hate or anger” towards her son’s killer.
The 29-year-old was a victim of the Manchester bombing attack, which left 22 dead and more than 100 injured at an Ariana Grande concert.
His death prompted an outpouring of tributes from family members, friends and Mariah Carey.
Russell Hayward, Martyn’s “soulmate,” wrote a heartbreaking message, as did his friend Christina.
But across two interviews with Sky and the BBC, his mum Figen Murray said she felt no hatred for the terrorist who targeted the concert.
“I have no feelings of hate or anger at all, because I don’t think this person deserves any of those emotions,” she said.
“I’m staying with my positivity for Martyn, and that’s what I want to hold on to.”
Her husband Stuart agreed, saying that he just felt “sad for them that they wasted their life for nothing.
“What have they got to show? Absolutely nothing.
“Martyn’s life is not wasted; he did so much with it, so there is nothing to feel about them.
“They’ve wasted a life: their own, not Martyn’s.”
Figen said that Martyn’s death would “hit me at some point, but at this moment I don’t feel the need to be upset and cry.
“When I think of Martyn, all I can think of is smiling because I have just so many fond and really funny memories, comical memories – him taking the mickey of me – and all that is in my head.”
Stuart said that he had “only just realised how many people thought so highly of him – how many lives he touched.
“It’s just simply staggering what I’m hearing – the messages from people who have met him in the past – so to have achieved all that in a short space of time…
“I would love to die with all that love behind me,” he continued.
“I think most of us will never be able to achieve that, so to have achieved it is all you’d want in life – because material things…you can’t take it with you, but all that love you leave behind is priceless.”
Figen said she had been sent a message from one of the girls who Martyn started talking to at the show shortly before he died.
“There was a girl who did a selfie with him,” she explained, “and sent it.
She said: ‘I was with him in those last moments just before it all happened, and I can assure you he had a really good time.
“‘He really enjoyed being there; rest assured he really enjoyed himself, and he died and his last moments were experiencing what he enjoyed.’”
A vigil for Martyn will take place at Heaton Moor Park on Sunday, from 7pm to 9pm.
Watch the interviews below:
“When I think of Martyn, all I can think of is smiling”: The family of #ManchesterAttack victim Martyn Hett says pic.twitter.com/xHlGO3LDGx
— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 26, 2017
The mother of Manchester terror attack victim Martyn Hett say she refuses to give in to hatred, and celebrate her son’s life pic.twitter.com/UWgEGXhTtr
— BBC North West (@BBCNWT) May 26, 2017
