Manchester Arena bombing survivor’s seven bouts of sepsis nearly killed him and remind him of atrocity

A dad who was one of the closest survivors of the Manchester Arena bombing, which resulted in him being paralysed from the waist down and his daughter being brain damaged, has since developed sepsis seven times and miraculously survived, with every bout acting as a reminder of the blast.

Martin Hibbert, 47, a motivational speaker and vice president of the Spinal Injuries Association, and his daughter, Eve, 21, attended the Ariana Grande concert together in May 2017 and were about six metres away from the bomb when it went off.

Martin, who lives in Chorley with his wife, Gabby, 51, “shielded” his daughter from the blast so he “took the brunt of it” and now has a spinal cord injury and is permanently in a wheelchair.

His daughter is also severely brain damaged and is in a wheelchair and will “need support for the rest of her life.”

When Martin was about to get discharged from a spinal unit, he thought he had a cold but had actually contracted sepsis from a urinary tract infection and almost died.

Since then, Martin has developed sepsis another six times, which makes him feel like his life is like a “never-ending game of snakes and ladders”.

Although he has learned to quickly respond if he starts showing signs of an infection, he struggles with the aftereffects – being constantly exhausted for three months after each bout.

Martin told PA Real Life: “I always say to people that my life is like a never-ending game of snakes and ladders – it’s the only way I can describe it.

“You feel like you’re getting somewhere and you’re climbing the ladders and you’re throwing a six every time and then all of a sudden you’ll hit a snake and you’re back to number one again.

“With sepsis, there’s so much repetition – a lot of the time, I think I’ve gotten over it, and I’ll get it again.

“It just seems like my body can’t deal with it, and it can bring back the memories of nearly dying in the attack.”

On May 22 2017, Martin and his daughter, who was 14 at the time, attended the Grande concert together while Eve’s mum stayed at home.

Martin had bought Eve the VIP tickets as a surprise for her birthday and picked her up from school.

“We always used to go to concerts together, all over the country, as some dad and daughter time, and I was dragged to all sorts like JLS and One Direction,” Martin said.

The pair had dinner together near the Arena and decided they were going to leave the gig slightly early, before the encore, at about 10.30pm because Eve was doing her mock exams around that week.

But, as the pair were leaving, at 10.31pm, Salman Abedi detonated his suicide bomb just six metres away.

Martin said: “Thankfully, I shielded her from the blast so I took the brunt of it.

“I had 22 shrapnel wounds and one of them severed my spinal cord –  I’ve got a spinal cord injury and I’m now in a wheelchair.

“Sadly, a bolt went through Eve’s head so she has been left with a catastrophic brain injury.

“Everyone around us died instantly and the things I saw and smelt were just unbelievable.

“When I got to hospital, I was sort of saying goodbye to everyone in my head, and I count myself very, very lucky – I’m only paralysed from the belly button down.

“I’m certain we were the closest survivors of the attack.”

Martin explained Eve’s condition: “We weren’t certain that she was going to survive, given the seriousness of her injuries.

“I didn’t really care about me.

“Thankfully, she came out of a coma and came off ventilation after two weeks.

“We were told she would need support for the rest of her life and she then went to a special needs school.

“She won’t be able to do much for herself in her life but you take what you can, really – she could have died.”

Martin had to stay in hospital for six months and was told he was never going to walk again.

He said: “I took it quite well, really – I was just lucky to be alive.”

Martin was then moved to the spinal injuries unit but nearly died after contracting sepsis in September 2017.

He said: “I just felt a bit unwell, I thought I had a cold, so I popped a couple of paracetamol.

“Over the next 24 hours, I deteriorated and then I just remember waking up and feeling so out of it.

“It felt like I was having a fit but it was septic shock and I pulled the emergency cord.

“It turned out I had red-level sepsis and if I left it just another couple of hours, my organs would have started shutting down and I could have died.”

Martin was then moved into the high-dependency unit and told his sepsis came from a urinary tract infection.

He was given antibiotics and felt better after about 10 days.

Martin has had sepsis another six times since then, with his last bout being in summer 2023.

He is now more aware of the signs. He explained: “I get a really high temperature and it’s almost like I’ve jumped into a swimming pool – that’s how badly I sweat.

“I’ve got some high-tech kit at home now to take my temperature, pulse and oxygen levels.

“Now, as soon as I get symptoms, my wife throws me in the car and we drive to the hospital and I’m put on antibiotics on fluids.

“Then I just have to count down to feeling better – it can last for around three months.

“I’ve been told I could have died almost every time I’ve been in hospital for sepsis.”

Martin explained the impact of sepsis on his life: “It can be so frustrating – the last time I got it, in the summer, it was just before we were meant to go on holiday and it meant we couldn’t go, which was just so disappointing.”

Martin has since stayed in touch with his neurosurgeon, as well as the paramedic who saved his life, and has taken them both to football games as a thank you.

He has also gone on to become the vice president for the Spinal Injury Association, doing challenges such as climbing Kilimanjaro, which led him to win the Regional Fundraiser of Year at the Pride of Britain Awards in 2022.

He has also written a book about his experiences, called Top Of The World: Surviving The Manchester Bombing To Scale Kilimanjaro In A Wheelchair, which will be coming out in April 2024.

Looking back on the last six years, he said: “The whole experience just makes you appreciate life and everyone around you and I’m just so happy to be alive.”

To pre-order Martin’s book, visit – Amazon.co.uk/Top-World-Manchester-Kilimanjaro-Wheelchair/dp/180247174X