Victim of Manchester Arena terror attack felt 'forgotten' after nine months in hospital

Victim of Manchester Arena terror attack felt 'forgotten' after nine months in hospital Paul Price was waiting for his 13-year-old daughter to leave the Ariana Grande concert in 2017 when suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated an improvised explosive device, killing 22 A victim of the Manchester Arena terror attack has told how he thought “my life is over” after he was discharged from hospital. Paul Price was waiting outside for his 13-year-old daughter to leave the Ariana Grande concert in 2017 when suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated an improvised explosive device, killing 22 innocent people. Paul lost his partner, Detective Constable Elaine McIver, in the blast and suffered life-changing injuries which saw him spend nine months in hospital. Speaking on the first dedicated national memorial day for victims of terror, Paul told how he felt forgotten after his lengthy spell in rehab. He said: “As you can imagine, after something like this, losing the love of my life, losing the person I was, losing the career I had, I came out of hospital nine months later totally lost, directionless and I thought life was over for me. “All the time I was in hospital I was told ‘don’t worry Paul, you’ll be looked after when you get out, there will be loads of support, loads of help, just concentrate on your rehab’, and that’s what I did. I came out of hospital nine months later to nothing.” He told the BBC: “I remember saying to myself ‘Paul you’ve been in hospital too long and they’ve forgotten about you’, and they had. I couldn’t live on my own at the time, I was living with my parents who were in no position really to look after me. “I went from a fully equipped rehab ward to my parents house with a physio coming out once a week to look for things in the house to aid in my recovery. There was no-one knocking on my door saying ‘right, this has happened to you Paul, that life is over now, but you’ve still got a life’. “As far as I was concerned my life was over and I needed help. I was navigating so many things, life changing injuries, the loss of Elaine. I wasn’t in a position to start creating a new life for myself. I was left alone for such a long time.” Paul is also quoted in a report which claims survivors of terror attacks are still being ‘mistreated and neglected’. The campaign group Survivors Against Terror (SAT) claims financial support for victims is fragmented and can depend on individual circumstances such as employment and pension arrangements In the report, Paul said: “The blast changed my life forever. I suffered catastrophic injuries that left me unable to return to work after a lifetime of employment. Alongside my own injuries and the months of hospital treatment and rehabilitation that followed, I had to face the devastating loss of Elaine. “I turned to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority believing it would provide recognition and support as I tried to rebuild my life. Instead, the process became another source of trauma." He highlighted being repeatedly required to revisit the events of that night and provide extensive evidence to prove the impact of what happened. He added: “The delays, uncertainty and constant need to justify my injuries left me feeling as though I was not being supported, but questioned. “After surviving a terrorist attack and losing Elaine, the last thing I expected was to feel as though I had to prove my suffering to a system that was supposed to recognise it.”