Georgina Callander

Georgina Callander, aged 18, from Tarleton, Lancashire was killed in the Manchester Arena bombing.

On 22 May 2017, at approximately 10:31 p.m., Salman Abedi, a 22-year-old British-Libyan man born in Manchester to Libyan parents, carried out a suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena in England at the end of an Ariana Grande concert. 

Abedi, a UK citizen who had recently returned from Libya, detonated a TATP-based nail bomb packed with shrapnel in the City Room foyer, killing 22 people (including children) and injuring 1,017 others (239 with physical injuries). 

His younger brother, Hashem Abedi (also British-Libyan), helped source materials and coordinate the attack from Libya; he was later convicted in the UK of 22 counts of murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to cause an explosion, receiving a life sentence with a minimum term of 55 years. 

Georgina Callander was at the concert as she was a huge fan of Ariana Grande and had previously met the pop star.

Her mother Lesley said Georgina, who was loved art, ballet, taekwondo and Bolton Wanderers football club, had been “like a beautiful melody who lit up the room with her famous smile”.

Her father Simon said his daughter had been due to study children’s nursing at Edge Hill University and compassion had been “her hallmark”, adding: “She didn’t have a bad bone in her body.”

Her brother Daniel said it “was infectious how she made you feel”, adding that his “geeky” sister had been “a ray of sunshine on the darkest of days”.

Rest in peace Georgina. You will not be forgotten.