Manchester Arena bomb survivor takes paramedic who saved his life to watch Man United at Wembley

A survivor of the Manchester Arena bombing has taken the paramedic who saved his life to watch Man United at Wembley, and will also take him to the final.

Martin Hibbert, 46, who was left paralysed after the attack took Paul Harvey to watch Manchester United’s FA Cup semi-final victory at Wembley and will also take him to watch the final in June.

The United supporters will go again together to watch their beloved team take on Manchester City in an epic derby for the FA Cup final on Saturday, June 3rd.

Martin was left paralysed following 22 shrapnel wounds which severed his spinal cord. The shrapnel also left his daughter Eve with a devastating brain injury.

Martin now campaigns for people living with disabilities and has found a life-long friend in the paramedic who saved his life in the attack on the night of May 22nd 2017.

Shortly after the penalty shoot-out victory, Martin tweeted a picture of the two friends grinning broadly.

He told the Manchester Evening News: “It was a great day. It was the first time Paul was at Wembley as well. It was a really good day.”

Martin, a long-standing Red and season ticket holder, watched on with his friend Paul as United beat Brighton in a penalty shoot out.

Their club’s victory means they can now head to London again to watch the first-ever Manchester derby FA Cup final at Wembley stadium together.

Martin credits Paul with saving his life as he made the crucial decision to take him to Salford Royal Hospital to their trauma unit where he was administered a blood-clotting agent which prevented him from bleeding to death.

He said that had Paul followed instructions and taken him to Wythenshawe Hospital he would have died.

The two became friends following a documentary for TV covering the atrocity — where they also learned they were both United fans.

Martin had Paul as a guest for a number of games at Old Trafford and promised, if they ever got there, he would take Paul to an FA Cup final.

Martin added: “It wasn’t just about football. It was about love and friendship and what good can come out of a bad night.”

As the Vice President of the Spinal Injuries Association, Martin climbed Mount Kilimanjaro last year and has so far raised £910,000 of the £1 million target.

He is also lobbying government as he has discovered only one in three people who suffer spine injuries are referred to the charity as he was – he spent months at its clinic in Southport, one of 12 around the country.

“People are just left to rot – I find that unacceptable,” he said. Martin has already held positive talks with Tom Pursglove, the minister for disabled people, health and work.

He admitted the public inquiry into the atrocity – whose three reports were highly critical of the response of the emergency and security services – had been ‘hard to take’.

His said that since the bombing he had been back into hospital six times because his injuries left him vulnerable to infection.

“I never take anything for granted. One minute I’m OK and the next minute I can be blue-lighting it to Salford Royal with sepsis,” said Martin.