Brave aunt killed shielding young niece from deadly blast at Manchester Arena

Kelly Brewster, 32, (pictured) was said to have "shielded" her young niece when the bomb was set off. Photo/Kelly Brewster/Facebook

A brave aunt who "shielded" her young niece from the deadly Manchester terror blast has died, MailOnline can reveal.

A family member has confirmed Kelly Brewster died in the terrorist attack in Manchester Arena last night.

There had been hopes throughout the day that Brewster was injured and unconscious in hospital but office confirmed at about 10:30 this evening that she had passed away, according to Daily Mail.

Brewster, 32, was at the Ariana Grande concert with her sister, Claire and niece, Hollie Booth.

Brewster had put a deposit on a house with her boyfriend just the day before the attack, MailOnline has learnt.

Posting on Facebook, Tracy Booth said her granddaughter, Hollie Booth, had broken both of her legs and Hollie's mother had broken her jaw.

Booth wrote: "I just hope my granddaughter Hollie Booth, her mum and Kelly Brewster will be ok, I hope my Hollies legs r going to be ok (sic)."

Commenting on the post, Paul Dryhurst said: "I understand she [Kelly] was behind Hollie and shield her with her body (sic)."

The office worker from Sheffield had been looking forward to a "bright future" with her boyfriend Ian Winslow, 36, a mortgage adviser, a family member said.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, John Brewster, 62, the father of distraught Ian, said: "Kelly was a lovely lass. When I think of her now, all I remember is her smile.

"She used to come round to our house all the time, for Christmas and everything. Ian's seven-year-old daughter absolutely idolised her. Kelly really took her under her wing, she was like a big sister. They went for holidays in London together."

Kelly and Ian had just decided to move in together and had taken the step of putting a deposit on a house in Sheffield the day before the attack, Winslow said.

Photo/Kelly Brewster/Facebook

"They were both looking forward to a bright future and sharing their lives together," he told MailOnline.

Ian is "absolutely distraught," Winslow added. He was up all night desperately searching for news of Kelly, alongside her parents and colleagues from his small financial services company in Manchester.

Kelly is understood to have been with two female family members at the pop concert in Manchester when the killer struck.

According to Brewster, her companions were wounded, with one suffering broken legs and the other having a broken jaw.

Kelly, however, was missing for almost 24 hours and has now been declared dead.

When asked whether his thoughts had turned to the fanatic responsible for the bombing, the retired engineer said: "I'm not thinking about him. I don't want to spoil myself.

"All I can say is that he must have been pure evil. I'd love to have been able to get my hands on him, but it looks like nobody will even be able to do that."