On Monday night, a concert by pop starlet Ariana Grande was shaken by explosions, and a resulting panic, which left several dead and several more wounded.
Authorities have thus far been treating the explosions as a "possible terrorist incident" and the entire ordeal has left Manchester, and all of the onlooking world, with words like "disturbed" and "heartbreaking" on their tongues.
But that didn't stop people in Manchester from being excellent to each other this week. Here are 5 perfect examples of just that:
- A taxi driver running his vehicle for free all night around Manchester
- A rabbi bringing tea to share with Manchester police officers
- A woman who found and sheltered 50 kids over night in a hotel to help them stay safe
- A pub offering free drinks all day to emergency responders
- A local Dominoes making sure the National Health Services workers didn't have to worry about food that night
And let's not forget all of the compassionate citizens who flocked to social media to offer their help and coordinate safe systems in the midst of all that chaos.
The person who shared these images on imgur.com also included a sweet and empowering passage:
"So the city I was proud to call home for a good few years, which even now is only 20 minutes up the road from me, was attacked last night. My heart bleeds for those that have lost loved ones and I've shed a tear or two, I had friends and family at the MEN last night. As ever the Manc spirit has shone through and the whole city has pulled together. The above are a handful of thousands of gestures like this. The IRA tried it in 1993 and we pulled through. We'll bounce back stronger than ever."