EVERY time heartbroken Figen Murray spots a bolt or screw in the street, she picks it up and puts it in her pocket. She does it because a bomb containing the same metal objects killed her son Martyn Hett and 21 other innocents in the Manchester Arena terror attack. Now Figen — in a remarkable […]
EVERY time heartbroken Figen Murray spots a bolt or screw in the street, she picks it up and puts it in her pocket.
She does it because a bomb containing the same metal objects killed her son Martyn Hett and 21 other innocents in the Manchester Arena terror attack.
Now Figen — in a remarkable act of defiance — will melt down the 700 screws she has collected to make a teddy bear to remind her of Martyn. The 16 pieces of shrapnel retrieved from his body will form its heart.
She told The Sun on Sunday: “I want to have the metal that killed Martyn melted down into the shape of a heart for the teddy bear.
“It’s my way of rejecting terrorism.
“I want to show people, those spreading hatred, that it’s being turned into something loving and I’m not accepting it.”
Today in an exclusive interview — as the inquiry into the harrowing attack breaks for Christmas — Figen, 59, tells how making cuddly bears has helped her to cope with Martyn’s death.
She has even FORGIVEN the bomber, Salman Abedi, 22.
Figen said: “The terrorist who carried out the attack was so young and I feel very strongly that young people are in huge danger of becoming radicalised, in both radical Islamist and extreme far-right ideologies.
“I have forgiven him.”
She also reveals how she “will not sleep” until she secures new legislation, called Martyn’s Law, which aims to increase security at events to prevent terror attacks.
The public consultation into the new law has growing political backing and is expected to begin early next year.
Martyn, who had a flourishing career in PR, was in high spirits before going to the Manchester Arena on May 22, 2017, to see US pop star Ariana Grande.
Islamic State fanatic Abedi detonated his bomb outside the venue. As well as the 22 dead, more than 800 people were injured in the blast, many of them children.
Two days after the gig Martyn was due to go on a road trip through America.
Figen said: “He’d been saving for two years and it was going to be the trip of a lifetime, he was incredibly excited.
“I dropped him at home on the Sunday, the day before the attack, gave him a big hug and said I’d see him Wednesday to take him to the airport. But that never happened.”
As initial reports about the attack came out, Figen says she immediately knew something tragic had happened, adding: “We had such a close bond, but suddenly I just couldn’t feel his presence. I knew he was gone. Call it a mother’s instinct.
“He was a laugh a minute, always smiling.
“Losing Martyn was massive and will always be a big issue.
“That pain and loss will never go away.”
Before his death, he helped to promote an online shop selling his mum’s hand-knitted teddy bears.
Figen, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, has immersed herself in her work with the “peace bears” as a way of feeling closer to him.
Soon after his death Figen says she received “a sign” that she should do something with the shrapnel that killed Martyn.
She said: “I was putting some clothes into the washing machine and I heard this pinging sound. On top of the machine was this bright, shiny screw that had fallen.
“I picked it up and was about to throw it away. But then I thought, ‘Oh, that’s a sign from Martyn’. I was in our basement, so there’s no way it could have just landed there all clean and new.
“Now every time I see one I see it as Martyn’s way of saying hello. I’ve collected 700. The bear made from the same bits of metal that could kill people in a bomb is going to be turned into something profoundly loving.”
Figen wants the metal memorial bear to be created in a similar style to her colourful knits, adding: “It’s a choice to see something like a nut or a screw as horrid, or to see it as an object that can be trans- formed into something positive.”
The pieces recovered from Martyn’s body are due to be released to her once the independent public inquiry into the Manchester Arena attack — which started in September — concludes.
Figen’s campaigning has seen her travel the world to meet leading politicians and terror victims.
The pandemic has caused a delay in the bid to get approval for Martyn’s law, which is backed by security experts, police and anti-terror campaigners including murdered MP Jo Cox’s widower Brendan.
Last month Figen was praised by Sir John Saunders, chairman of the inquiry, for her efforts in pushing the Government to act.
This week she spoke to the Home Office Security Minister, James Brokenshire, after the UK’s terror threat level was raised to “severe” in November, meaning an attack is highly likely.
She added: “As the threat level has gone up my concern is that another attack might happen that could be avoided.”
Figen wants to ensure private arenas, theatres and local authorities introduce greater protection measures, such as metal detectors and bag searches at large venues, as well as arrange anti-terrorism training for staff and location assessments to identify their vulnerability to an attack.
She added: “Martyn’s Law is a simple set of measures that are proportionate. A small cafe wouldn’t need the same security measures as a large stadium or arena.
“I bought six handheld metal detectors for less than £130 online, that’s under £22 each, to show just how simple it is. It still feels the same after three-and-a-half years. While I don’t grieve in public, I may come across as OK as an activist, at home it’s a completely different matter.”
Figen, a former therapist, has also been studying for a master’s degree in counterterrorism.
She said: “It’s really important to reach young people, talk to them and get the right messages of positive values such as tolerance, kindness and embracing difference, to them.
“They are future parents, politicians and community leaders.
“I am absolutely devastated at losing Martyn.
“However, I choose to continue his legacy of positivity as the peace-loving person he was.”
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