After the terrifying Manchester Arena suicide bombing, social media witnessed a number of alerts for people who were missing. A young man and his girlfriend were among those who had dropped off the radar in the wake of the terrorist attack. Manchester bombing victim Liam Curry was a "fine young man," according to friends. Today, the BBC confirmed 19-year-old Curry died, along with his girlfriend, 17-year-old Chloe Rutherford.
Prior to the unfortunate and heartbreaking confirmation, several tweets on Twitter alerted the couple's missing status. One user said, "I'm so worried about Chloe Rutherford and Liam Curry. Please be found safe or at least alive." The young couple was "inseparable," according to their families.
A friend of Curry, Jack Errington, from South Shields, United Kingdom, had only warm and kind words for the young man. According to Chronicle Live, Errington had met Curry when they were both 11 years old. Errington spoke of how intelligent Curry was by saying, "He was the smart one, I always copied his answers in class." He went on to say that Curry "was a genuine nice lad" and he didn't think "anyone would have a bad word to say about him."
Curry, according to Errington, had a mischievous sense of humor and enjoyed making others laugh.
"He was a joker, the prankster of the group. It's so sad to think he is not going to be there to do that," Errington told Chronicle Live.
As is with many young people in the United Kingdom, Curry was a fan of the sport cricket. His coach, Chris Mann, noted that it was "devastating for everyone involved. It has hit the cricket family here very hard."
According to the Manchester Evening News, Curry had very recently lost his father to cancer. In an online obituary, Curry expressed his love for his deceased father and said, "My dad was my hero and I don't know how we can go on without him!"
While his father was alive and undergoing cancer treatment, Curry raised funds for him by cycling over 200 miles. Curry was only 14 when he raised money for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, which shared its moving condolences after Curry's death. Curry "undertook a 260 mile sponsored cycle ride from Calais to Paris and a Great North Run to help raise funds for us," according to the foundation.
The most heartbreaking aspect of this is perhaps the most heartwarming one: Curry's constant love for his girlfriend. The couple's families described them as most ideal for each other. In a statement released by the Greater Manchester Police, the families said, "They were perfect in every way for each other and were meant to be." The statement ended on this note: "They wanted to be together forever and now they are."
