Woman who was at Manchester Arena bombing creates wax melts to raise funds for terrorism victims

Beth Fernley from Great Sankey was in the foyer of the arena when a suicide bomber detonated a homemade bomb on May 22, 2017.

The explosion killed 22 innocent people who had been enjoying an Ariana Grande concert.

Beth, who attended the concert with her partner's younger sister, was one of the first people to get out of the building safely.

Now, more than three years later, Beth has felt able to open up about the terrifying experience, while using her business, SS Wax Melts, to raise money for 22MCR - a charity committed to helping victims of terrorism.

Her new wax melt range uses the image of a bee as a tribute to Manchester's resilience.

SS Wax Melts

Recalling the tragic event, Beth said: "We were in the foyer at the time of the explosion.

"Once the bomb had gone off it felt like time stopped.

"Everyone around us just had the look of sheer panic and then all of a sudden, it was just a wave of screams.

"I grabbed my partner's little sister's hand and just ran.

"The closest way out was the stairs inside the building which then lead us outside.

"I remember I couldn’t even see his little sister because of the amount of us running trying to get out, but I knew as long as I didn’t let go of her hand, she would be coming out with me.

"I remember running down the stairs and all that I could think was, what if this is a trap?

"What if they want us all to run downstairs, what if somebody else is waiting at the bottom?

"That was awful, not knowing what we were all running into.

"Once we got outside I just focused on calming his little sister down, as although she didn’t understand what had happened, she was seeing the reactions of those around us which must have been scary and confusing for her."

Beth and her partner's sister were among the lucky ones, but hundreds of others were injured.

The youngest victim that night was Saffie-Rose Roussos. She was eight years old.

Beth recently got in touch with Saffie's mum and told her about her plans to donate 50 per cent of all proceeds from her new wax melt collection to 22MCR - which was set up by Saffie's family.

SS Wax Melts

SS Wax Melts originally launched in July while Beth was on maternity leave with her daughter.

After being up and running for a few months, she decided it was time to use the business to raise awareness and money for 22MCR.

Beth said creating the 22MCR range has even helped her to talk more about the tragic event.

"Until now, I have always avoided any conversations about that night," she said.

"But the night I released the 22MCR range, I did a Q&A on SS Wax Melts' Instagram page and one of the questions was 'has that night made you more aware of crowds?'.

"One hundred per cent.

"Everywhere I go now, I know the quickest way out of places, or if that is not possible, I have a place to hide ready in my head.

"My mum rang me after watching the video and couldn’t believe I had never spoken about how much the attack had affected me, however finding escape routes when in busy places in case of another attack is normal for me now.

"I do think it’s very hard to talk to people about these type of feeling though.

"It has been more than three years and I have only just started talking to people about this so, in a way, bringing out this range and supporting 22MCR has definitely helped that."

Visit sswaxmelts.co.uk/22ncr.