Manchester Arena bomb survivor inspired to quit teaching and join Durham police

A survivor of the Manchester Arena bombing decided to ditch his career in education for the police, having been inspired by the compassion and bravery of officers at the scene.

Josh Elliott was working as a classroom assistant when he attended the fateful Ariana Grande concert on May 22, 2018.

But he says that night made him realise that he wanted to be a police officer himself and he set about making a career change.

The 27-year-old said: “Seeing how the officers sprang into action and put themselves in danger to get us to safety just made something click in me.

“I saw it as a way of turning a negative into a positive and I knew then that I had to go into policing.”

Josh and his two friends had decided to hang back after the concert, meaning they were not in the foyer where suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated his device, killing 22 and injuring over 1,000.

Josh said: “We were literally walking out and just heard this massive bang and then saw the smoke and people started to run and scream.

“There were about 30 or 40 cop cars there and I just remember thinking it was like an army of police who had come out of nowhere to get us to safety.”

After a stint as a call handler, Josh applied to become a constable with Durham Police and he now works as a response officer, where he has dealt with all sorts of cases, including domestic assault, stalking and mental health safety checks.

“Sometimes you won’t get away for hours after your shift but knowing you are helping people in need every day is really rewarding and I wouldn’t change it for the world,” he said. “There’s no job like it.”

“That being said, you need to expect busy shifts, stressful and volatile situations, lots of paperwork and having to do tasks you don’t want to do; but it’s all part of the role, you can’t pick or choose,” he added.

Josh, from Co Durham, hopes to join the Armed Policing Unit in the future.

• There have been criticisms elsewhere of the police response to the Manchester Arena attack, however, including from some bereaved families, and a second volume of the Manchester Arena Inquiry report focusing on the response of the emergency services is due to be published in November.