A courageous schoolgirl who was seriously injured at Manchester Arena encouraged paramedics to help other people - despite being hit by shrapnel and bolts in the blast.

Millie Robson and her friend Laura Anderson, both 15, met US popstar Ariana Grande and went to her concert after winning a competition by producing a short video about spending a day in Durham, her hometown, with the 23-year-old singer.

But after the bomb was set off, killing 22 people and injuring 119, the girls were left laying in the foyer and using their handbags as tourniquets to aid Millie's bleeding legs.

During the attack, the girls directed medics towards those they thought were more seriously injured before being taken to the major trauma unit at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.

Millie, who is still in hospital, relived the night of horror as she met the Queen today, who was visiting patients.

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Millie Robson (above in bed) told paramedics to tend to other people who were injured at the Manchester Arena concert

She is pictured with her parents Marie and David and the Queen at Manchester Children's Hospital

Speaking to the Queen, she said: 'I have a few holes in my legs and a bit of a cut near my eye.

'I was in the foyer. I was walking out to meet my dad who was picking me and a friend up and then it went off behind us.

'I just remember hearing the explosion and my ears started ringing through and there was people screaming.

'It was quite scary but you've just got to get through it.

'My dad went over and picked me up. We tried putting jumpers around the main wounds and then there were a lot of paramedics outside and even strangers were helping us.

'I met Ariana Grande before the show because I'd won a competition. She was really nice.'

Describing her reaction to the Queen's visit, Millie said: 'She was lovely. It was mind-blowing really. You don't really expect it.'

Millie, who attends Woodham Academy, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, suffered significant holes in her thighs and tendon damage and has undergone surgery.

David Robson, 54, described how he saw his daughter waving at him before the explosion went off, as he stood at the top of a set of stairs with partner Jean Forster.

Sitting at his daughter's bedside, he said: 'The next thing it was just this boom. It went. It was just white. It was surreal, it was just quiet.

'And I saw Millie at the bottom of the stairs and I just ran down to pick her up - Jean ran down to pick Laura up.'

Mr Robson tied his jumper around Millie's leg to stem the bleeding and carried her, telling her not to look at anyone else but him as the group fled the 'carnage'.

Millie's mother, Marie Robson, said that coping with her injuries was 'very tough' but they feel 'very lucky as some people were not nearly so fortunate.'

She said: '[Millie] was in the thick of it. If they hadn't started running towards Millie's dad, it could have been far worse.

'She has been incredibly brave. Even on the night when she was in a bad way, she and Laura were telling people to go and help more seriously injured people.

'She is a tough little cookie. She is adamant that she will carry on going to concerts.'

Mrs Robson said her daughter was expected to continue her recovery at home in the coming days and receive ongoing treatment in the North-East.

She said: 'She has been up a little bit on crutches, but we will have to keep her pain under control in the coming days.

'She is doing really well under the circumstances and we positive that Millie will make a full recovery, but we don't know yet what the psychological impact is going to be.'

Mrs Robson said the girls had been on top of the world when the blast happened.

She raced to Manchester after learning her daughter had been injured, and suffered a nightmarish few hours trying to find which hospital she had been taken to.

Mrs Robson said: 'It was horrendous, the worst two hours of my life. They weren't telling me what the injuries were. I thought she had lost her legs.'

The Queen asked the family if they were okay during the visit and how they were recovering

She met Millie as she toured round the hospital meeting nurses and doctors who are treating the victim from Monday's attack

Her friend Laura, who was also injured in the blast, left hospital yesterday but remains in shock.

Laura's mother, Jana Anderson, said Laura had been unable to talk about the traumatic events.

She said: 'It must have been so hard - what she's been through. I can't imagine it. I wasn't there and to think of the things she must have seen.'

Millie's quick-thinking decision to use a handbag strap as a tourniquet was also thought of by charity worker, Josie Howarth, who was also struck by bomb fragments.

Ms Howarth, who is in her 50s, was waiting for her nieces Jenny, 19, and Jodie, 13, with her sister Janet when the bomb went off.

A piece of shrapnel hit her leg and was just a millimetre away from a main artery, forcing her to break her handbag strap and tie it around her leg before paramedics took her to hospital.

Janet, who is also in her 50s, suffered serious injuries to her collarbone after a piece of shrapnel just missed her lung. She recently returned home to recover.

The teenagers were not injured during the attack and were reunited with their worried parents four hours later.

Family friend Sophie Wright, 21, is raising money in honour of the Howarth family.

Josie Howarth, second from left, and Janet, far right, were both injured in the bomb attack at Manchester Arena on Monday. Josie also tied her handbag strap around her leg

Jenny, pictured with one of the donkeys, survived the incident and is now at home with her family

The funds will go towards the Wonkey Donkey Visitors Centre, which is run by the family in Knottingley, West Yorkshire.

Speaking to the Mirror, Miss Wright, who works at the centre, said: 'Their nieces are totally traumatised by it all. They came out of the stadium and feared the worst when they couldn't find their aunts.

'[Josie and Janet] both had major operations and may need reconstruction surgery depending on how quickly their injuries heal.

'They are such a lovely family who would do anything for anyone. You just don't think this would happen to someone you know.'

Miss Wright, from Doncaster, said she decided to raise the funds so the family could take time off from work and recover from the incident together.

On the fundraising page, she wrote: 'We don't want them to have to be worrying about fundraising during this extremely difficult and emotional time.

'I am very close to the family and can assure you that the money is going directly to their bank account and will be spent on animal feed, bedding and vets bills.

'Please donate if you can to help this wonderful family and their donkeys.'

To donate, visit gofundme.com/wonkeydonkey