A MUM-of-two who was inside the Manchester Arena when an explosion hit instantly went into panic mode as she tried to get her daughters to safety.

Mel O’Neill, from Great Sankey, feared a gun had been fired when she first heard the bang while leaving the Ariana Grande concert with daughters Darcey, 10, and Lois, 11, and husband Carl.

The 43-year-old, who runs O'Neills Hair and Beauty, said: “It was when the concert had finished.

“We were walking towards the steps to get out and then there was a massive loud bang.

“I told my girls to grab my hands – I just went into panic mode.

“Everybody around us was panicking, screaming and jumping over the chairs.

“My husband Carl told me to 'calm down' as we didn’t know what had happened.

“In my head I thought it was a gun and then I was thinking what if they open fire on everyone.

“My second thought was that if it was a bomb and then there could be another one planted and we are still in the building.

“Carl kept saying ‘stop panicking’ as there will be more injuries if there is chaos.

“I have so much faith in him so I just listened to him.”

Mel, who had treated the children to Ariana Grande tickets as a Christmas present, only realised the magnitude of what had happened when she woke up this morning.

“That’s when reality hit me. It could have been so different,” said Mel, who was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer around six years ago.

“So many people went to a concert for a lovely night out and so many will not go home. It’s unbelievable.

“People say we are the unluckiest family in the world but we are the luckiest family as we have come through so much.”

Mum-of-three Jo Tocher, 39, was leaving the Ariana Grande concert when she heard a loud bang and feared the worst when the building started to shake.

“I knew straightaway what it was because of the panic and the rush. The building started to shake,” said the classified sales manager from Great Sankey.

“There were people running who had been injured."

After finally arriving back at home at around 4.30am, Jo has not been able to sleep.

“I just keep kissing and hugging the kids. I feel lucky we left when we did," she said.

“Fortunately my daughter said she didn’t want to leave but if we had left when I wanted to – I can’t even think about it.

“We were waiting around trying to get out of the car park.

“It’s the fear of what’s going to happen – what could happen next.”

Since the attack, Jo has been left in a state of shock after the heart-breaking events which unfolded last night.

Police have so far confirmed 22 people have died and many more have been injured following the explosion at 10.35pm on Monday.

It is believed the attacker died in the bomb blast as he was carrying an improvised explosive device.

“We were just on our way out,” said Jo.

“I had parked in the Manchester Arena car park – we couldn’t see a lot.

“It was more the panic and the rush.

“I tried to keep a hold of my two daughters – one of my daughters is eight but she is as a light of feather.

“I just got a hold of them both and dragged them out.

“They are traumatised. They haven’t gone into school today.”

Jo’s sister and other family members had also attended the pop concert but they were seated in a different area of the arena.

The mum, who has an older son who wasn’t at the concert, faced an agonising one-hour wait before she knew that the rest of her family were safe.

Many people from Warrington have rallied together in the wake of the explosion.

One kind-hearted dad-of-three offered to drive to Manchester to pick up any concert goers who had been left stranded.

Cheshire Police have released the following statement following the suicide attack.

A spokesman said: “The thoughts of everyone at Cheshire Constabulary are very much with all those affected by the devastating events in Manchester last night.

“We are working closely with our communities, providing extra patrols for visibility and reassurance, and co-operating with any national requirements for support.”

Cheshire Community Foundation has set up a fund following the attack at Manchester Arena last night.

All the money raised by the public will go to help the victims and families.

Zoe Sheppard, chief executive of Cheshire Community Foundation, said: “All of us connected with Cheshire Community Foundation are horrified by the news of the terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena last night.

“A great number of people from Cheshire would have attended the Ariana Grande concert or may have been personally affected by the attack.

“We know that people in Cheshire and Warrington want to do something to help so we have set up a fund to raise money for the victims and their families.

“As a community, it is so important that we all pull together at times like this.”

To donate click here.

To read more about the attack click here.