A survivor of the Ariana Grande bombing in Manchester has said that UK authorities made “big mistakes” while dealing with the jihadist attack.
Ron Blake, a survivor of the Islamist Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, has said that “big mistakes” were made by UK authorities both in the run-up to and after the terror attack.
Perpetrated by Libyan migrant Salman Abedi, the attack on the arena during a pop concert resulted in the deaths of 22 people — many of whom were children — leaving many more injured.
In an interview with the BBC, Blake discussed his first-hand account of the immediate aftermath of the attack, during which he tried to save the life of another victim, John Atkinson, despite Blake himself being injured.
Having called for emergency services only seconds after the attack occurred, Blake proceeded to try and treat Atkinson by fashioning a makeshift tourniquet with his wife’s belt, despite the fact that he lacked any first aid training whatsoever.
While Blake’s efforts have since been praised by Atkinson’s family as being “heroic”, he was ultimately unable to save the man’s life, who later succumbed to his injuries.
An inquiry into the Manchester Arena attack has heard that it took nearly an hour for paramedics to treat Atkinson, and on Thursday declared that if emergency services had arrived sooner, the man may have survived.
Commenting on the actions of authorities in relation to the terror attack, Blake said that it was clear that “big mistakes” were made, and that those in charge had ultimately “got it all wrong”.
“It just seemed to last forever. It seemed to go on and on and on and no-one was coming so I just kept trying to talk to John,” Blake told the BBC regarding his experience of waiting for paramedics to treat the injured man.
Blake then said that, when paramedics did arrive, the injured Atkinson was “still talking”, so he believed that the man would survive.
However, while being treated in hospital for his own injuries the following day, Blake learned that the man he had desperately tried to save had in fact died.
“It was on the news in the waiting room,” he said. “I went outside… and just broke down.”
During its run, the inquiry into the terror attack had heard a number of serious criticisms in regard to how emergency services responded in the wake of the bombing.
According to the BBC, it took more than two hours for Fire and Rescue to arrive at the scene, while only one paramedic was present within the first 40 minutes of the attack.
UK security services also appear to have failed to capitalise on opportunities to prevent the attack, with Islamist Salman Abedi already being known to authorities for up to three years before the bombing took place.
To make matters worse, Abedi was spotted by a security guard acting in a suspicious manner before the attack, but said guard ultimately decided it was best not to stop the terrorist over fears that he would be branded racist for doing so.
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