Olivia Campbell Said She Was Having Fun In Final Text To Boyfriend Before Manchester Attack

All of the families of those killed as a result of a suicide bombing at Manchester Arena on Monday night have now been informed. As people begin to grieve, even the smallest things are giving friends and family comfort.

Fifteen-year-old Olivia Campbell was tragically killed during the explosion. Her boyfriend, Lewis Brierley, has now revealed that she texted him just minutes before her death, and said: "I'm having so much fun."

On Facebook, Lewis wrote: "I loved her so much that I made sure every night... I would send her a paragraph to let her know just how much she meant to me and I only hope she knows I meant every word of it."

Her mother, Charlotte, also paid tribute to her daughter on Facebook. She wrote: "RIP my darling precious gorgeous girl Olivia Campbell taken far far too soon. Go sing with the angels and keep smiling, mummy loves you so much."

The family launched an emotional appeal for news about Olivia after they couldn't get in touch with her.

Olivia's stepdad, Paul Hodgson, told the Manchester Evening News that her mother broke down after hearing the news of Olivia's death. He said: "I went and told Charlotte. I'd asked them to call me as we didn't want to get a knock at the door.

"Charlotte just broke down. She was calling me a liar and lashing out but I just had to hold her tight."

It has been reported that Olivia wasn't supposed to be attending the gig, but she went with her friend, Adam, after another friend dropped out. Adam is currently in hospital with 'life-changing' injuries.

Police told Paul that they had needed to wait until the arena was made safe before they could go inside and retrieve 13 of the bodies. One of which was the attacker.

Paul added that he wanted to thank those who'd helped since the attack. He said: "Britain's got to learn from it, we've all got to learn from it. We can't stop our children and keep them in all the time but we do our best to keep them safe.

"I'm angry at the bloke who did it. It's such a cowardly thing to attack children who haven't harmed anybody. Why target innocent children? He's hit the arena hardest in a place and at a time that would cause the maximum damage and injury.

"Our thoughts are with everybody else who's been involved - with Adam, with the emergency services - everybody involved in making things as safe as possible."

Mel Ramsay

Mel Ramsay has been a Senior Journalist for Tyla and LADbible since 2015. She started her career writing obituaries and funeral guides online. Since then, her work has been published in a wide variety of national and local news sites. She is part of the BBC's Generation project and has spoken about young people, politics and mental health on television, radio and online. Contact her - [email protected]

@melramsay_