Mum's last wish honours Hillsborough fans Published duration 26 November 2017

image caption Some football fans used pitch-side hoardings as stretchers at the Hillsborough stadium

A plaque paying tribute to survivors of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster who helped rescue fans has been unveiled as a last wish of a victim's mother.

Ninety-six fans died and many were hurt after a crush at Liverpool's FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.

The plaque is the final wish of the late Hillsborough justice campaigner Anne Williams, who wanted to credit those who tried to save her son Kevin.

It was unveiled at Liverpool Central Station in front of a large crowd.

Many fans gave first aid and used pitch-side advertising hoardings as makeshift stretchers after the crush at Sheffield Wednesday's stadium on 15 April 1989.

image copyright Getty Images image caption Anne Williams asked her brother Danny (top) to set up a tribute

Before her death in 2013, Mrs Williams asked her brother Danny Gordon to set up a tribute to the disaster's survivors.

Mr Gordon said it was "her last legacy".

"Being from Formby, she regularly got the train to Liverpool Central to attend her meetings for justice in town, so it's really special to have it there," he added.

image copyright Merseyrail image caption The plaque pays tribute to survivors who helped

Mr Gordon commissioned it after many of the survivors and families "gave their approval and expressed how much it would mean to them", a spokeswoman for the event said.

Merseyrail agreed to put up the plaque at Liverpool Central after Mr Gordon struggled to find a permanent home for it.

Jan Chaudhry-van der Velde, managing director at Merseyrail, added: "It will be seen by hundreds of thousands of passengers, who will be able to pay tribute to the survivors, which is exactly what she would have wanted."

In 2016, new inquests concluded the fans had been unlawfully killed.

Earlier this year, it was announced that former Ch Supt David Duckenfield faces 95 charges of manslaughter while five other senior figures will be prosecuted over the disaster.