Ariana Grande sends Secret Santa gifts to hundreds of young hospital patients in Manchester

Ariana Grande shows she has retained string ties to Manchester, as she gifted hundreds of young hospital patients £100 Amazon vouchers for Christmas.

The 27-year-old singer made the generous donation to patients at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and Manchester Royal Infirmary, three years after her concert in the city ended in a devastating bombing, which killed 22 people. 

A father of one of the patients, identified only as Steve, told the Manchester Evening News: ‘As I understand it she’s given every child in the hospital a voucher. I went to pick her up and she was so excited.

‘She said “look dad, I’ve got a £100 voucher from Ariana Grande”. It was in a little personalised box with no message on it and no note to say who it’s from. It’s such a lovely gesture and there’s no publicity around it so you know it’s genuine.

‘It’s brought a lot of joy after everything that’s gone in with the pandemic this year. It’s been a tough year with my daughter being in hospital. The staff there are great and so hard working.’

News of Ariana’s gesture comes months after her manager Scotter Braun revealed the singer is still ‘suffering’, three years after the Manchester Arena bombing. 

A suicide bomber killed 22 and injured 139 when he detonated a device as people were leaving Ariana’s concert at the Manchester venue on May 22, 2017.

Speaking on the third anniversary of the attack, Scooter explained that the pop star has post-traumatic stress disorder.

According to The Mirror, Scooter, who along with Ariana visited the families and injured at the Royal Manchester Children’s hospital in the days after the attack, said: ‘She has PTSD, she’s still suffering to this day.’ 

In a 2018 interview with British Vogue, Ariana revealed she had been experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

‘It’s hard to talk about because so many people have suffered such severe, tremendous loss. But, yeah, it’s a real thing,’ she said. 

‘I know those families and my fans, and everyone there experienced a tremendous amount of it as well. Time is the biggest thing.’

‘I feel like I shouldn’t even be talking about my own experience – like I shouldn’t even say anything. I don’t think I’ll ever know how to talk about it and not cry.’  

Speaking nine months after the bombing, Scooter described during an interview won the Big Questions with Cal Fussman podcast, how Ariana had cried ‘for days’ after the attack.

‘When she found out that fans of hers had died she was so sad.

‘She cried for days, she felt everything – every face they announced, every name, she wore on her sleeve. Every bit of emotion because that’s who she is.’ 

He recalled that the pairs’ visits to the families in the days after the attack were the ‘hardest two hours of either of our lives’.

‘After the first family I had to help her, she was distraught and I was lost. It was beyond tough. But every single time we got down we reminded each other we get to go home.

‘Our loved ones are still going to be there. That mother is never coming home, that daughter is never coming home, that son is never coming home, that dad is never coming home.’ 

Back in May, Ariana shared a heartfelt message to her fans ahead of the three-year anniversary of the attack.

The singer took to Instagram and wrote a touching message to her fans to let them know her ‘heart’ was with them. 

She wrote: ‘I want to take a moment to acknowledge and send my love to everyone that is feeling the sadness and and tremendous heaviness of the anniversary coming up this week.’

The hitmaker added that the tragic incident continues to have an impact on so many in the present.  

She said: ‘Not a day goes by that this doesn’t affect you and all of us still. I will be thinking of you all week and weekend. My heart, thoughts and prayers are with you always’. 

The suicide bomb attack perpetrated by Salman Abedi, 22, occurred on May 22, 2017 and resulted in the deaths of 22 victims while 139 people were injured. 

Ariana returned to Manchester for the first time in two years in August 2019 as she performed at the Manchester Pride event at Mayfield Depot.

The star admitted she was ‘nervous’ and ‘overwhelmed’ as she took to the stage in the Northern city after she held a benefit concert in aide of those who were injured in the bombing.

As she was cheered onto the stage by hundreds of fans, the award-winning musician looked emotional as she announced: ‘I love Manchester so much, thank you so much for having me back.’ 

The One Last Time hitmaker continued: ‘I’m so happy to be here with you – it means the world – so thank you for having me.

‘I’m sorry, I’m so nervous, I had so much more to say but I’m like very overwhelmed so thank you. It’s so beautiful, I love you so much.’ 

Ahead of the event, she tweeted: ‘on our way to manchester pride. love u so much. can’t wait to give u all our love. you’re my heart in every way. see u soon. [sic]’

Marking an emotional return, the songstress captivated audiences with an acoustic rendition of her hit single One Last Time, which she re-released as a charity single two years ago following the terrorist attack. 

At the time, the special single reached a peak of number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.

The star first returned to Manchester to headline the One Love gig in June 2017.

She made the brave decision to return to the city for the benefit concert, which raised more than £17 million, and saw the entire audience that attended her previous show in attendance.

The concert saw all manner of stars take to the stage at the Old Trafford cricket ground, including Coldplay, Katy Perry, Liam Gallagher, Justin Bieber and Robbie Williams.