It's just like a nightmare... like you are standing on the outside looking in and thinking 'this can't be real'
| Published date | 22 May 2022 |
| Publication title | Sunday Sun |
Loving joker Philip Tron was killed alongside his partner's daughter Courtney Boyle when they both went to collect Courtney's little sister from the doomed Ariana Grande gig five years ago.
They were among 22 people, including four from our region, to lose their lives when evil Salman Abedi detonated a suicide bomb in the packed foyer of the arena as young concert-goers made their way out.
On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the blast, June has relived the worst hours of her life, as she searched frantically for Philip amid the terrifying chaos, confusion and cordons outside the arena.
And in an emotional interview with the Sunday Sun she tells how she is still haunted by the screams of relatives being told their loved ones were dead.
The 66-year-old, from Harlow Green in Gateshead, said: "It's just like a nightmare. It's like you are standing on the outside looking in and thinking 'this can't be real.' .
"It's not like losing someone, it's like having them ripped away. Someone has deliberately gone and taken their lives."
Funny, generous and genuine, Philip would do anything for anyone, his mum said.
So when his partner's daughter needed a lift to the concert in Manchester, on May 22, 2017, Philip asked his brother Michael if he could borrow his car.
Michael, now 32, agreed on the condition that Philip took his mum for the trip as she had been recovering from a knee operation, June explained.
It was agreed that Philip, 32, would drive his girlfriend, Deborah Hutchinson, her 14-year-old daughter Nicole and June down to Manchester and that they would pick up Deborah's older daughter, 19-year-old Courtney Boyle who was studying in Leeds, on the way.
After dropping Nicole at the arena June, Philip, Deborah and Courtney spent some time together in Manchester before going to Nandos for tea. And June remembers the last day she spent with her son fondly.
"It was brilliant," she said. "Courtney was telling us all about university and she was catching up with her mam, and me and Philip were chatting."
After their meal the four went to sit in their car, parked behind Manchester Victoria train station, until it was time to collect Nicole from the concert. And June can recall joker Philip winding her up by writing in the puzzle book she had been doing.
At just after 10pm Philip and Courtney left the car to go and meet Nicole at the arena...
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