‘Full-blown chaos’: TikToker Max Balegde speaks out about surviving the 2017 Manchester arena attack

Lancashire TikTok star Max Balegde has opened up for the first time about his experience surviving the 2017 Manchester arena attack and how it has changed his life.

The 22-year-old content creator shared a video with his 3.4million TikTok followers on Friday as part of a government campaign about reporting terrorist activity and what to do in the event of an attack.

Recalling the events of that night, he said: “I was just grateful that I was ok,  I was scared of the thought of what could have happened, I felt awful for the people that it did, ultimately, happen to.”

‘World of denial’

Max attended the concert on 22 May, 2017, with his little sister. He explained that he had persuaded his mum to buy her the tickets for her birthday “even though it was very much for me.” The concert had just finished and he was on the phone to his mum when the bomb went off.

He said: “We obviously didn’t know what it was. I just remember, I was still on the phone to my mum and I just looked at this woman next to me because I was looking for some sort of guidance on what was going on. I put the phone down and didn’t even explain anything to my mum and it went into full-blown chaos.

“I just had to grab my little sister. I was filled with adrenaline. I suddenly had the strength to pick this child up. For whatever reason, in that moment, I just felt like my life was nowhere near as important as hers.”

The TikToker and podcast host said he was “in a world of denial” in the moments following the attack. He remembers seeing the “panic” in his mum’s face and finding out that it was a confirmed terrorist attack on the radio on the way home.

He said: “I got outside and saw people with blood on them, and even then, in your mind, you just don’t jump to the conclusion that it could be a terrorist attack.”

‘That day restored my faith in humanity’

Several weeks after the attack, Ariana Grande returned to Manchester for her One Love charity concert at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in aid of the victims and their families.

Max and the other survivors were allocated a special area in front of the stage to watch the performance, which included guest stars like Justin Bieber, the Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay, Katy Perry, Take That, Pharrell Williams, Robbie Williams and Liam Gallagher.

Being around others who had shared this harrowing experience was a comfort to him. He said: “Everybody that I was stood with, right at the front, had all had a shared experience with me. Everybody just held hands with the people next to them even if they didn’t know them. That’s the whole point of this concert, to not let these awful things that have happened dictate the rest of your life.”

This experience also had another profound effect on his life. In the video, Max described himself at the time of the attack as “deeply in the closet” but the experience inspired him to come out to his family.

He said: “Pretty much the week after is when I decided to come out to my mum, and then, a couple months later, come out publicly to everybody because I had this rare opportunity where I got to evaluate my place in this world and all my relationships with my family, my friends, because they could have just been taken away from me.”

Counter-terrorism

In the caption to the video, Max wrote that he had decided to use his platform to raise awareness about terrorism, having worked with counter-terrorism police in the wake of the attack.

He shared the video under the hashtag #TakeActionSaveLives with information about the government’s Action Counters Terrorism (ACT) campaign, which includes information about when and how to report terrorist activity and what to do if you are concerned someone you know may have been radicalised or is displaying extremist behaviour.

• More information about ACT can be found on the Gov.uk website.