The partner of off-duty Cheshire detective Elaine McIver murdered in the Manchester attack spoke of his heartbreak as well as coming close to death himself in a BBC documentary last night.

Paul Price had gone with Elaine to pick up his teenage daughter and her friend from the Ariana Grande concert on the evening of May 22, 2017, when they got caught in the blast.

Elaine, 43, who grew up in Ellesmere Port but had been living in Frodsham , was among the 22 people killed by suicide bomber Salman Abedi.

Paul was seriously injured with a broken leg, shrapnel injuries and burns to his head and face.

Paul Price spoke about losing the love of his life Elaine McIver, from Frodsham, when she was killed in the Manchester Arena bomb. Picture: BBC

He told filmmaker Jamie Roberts behind BBC2’s Manchester: The Night of the Bomb: “I could feel myself becoming light-headed and I just thought, this is the end, this is death and I just felt the need to speak to someone. I don’t even remember what I wanted to say.”

Later in hospital he discovered the devastating news about Elaine; the ‘perfect’ partner he thought he’d never meet only for her to be cruelly taken from him.

“I remember crying on the high dependency ward because I knew Elaine was, you know, was dead.

“I’d been on my own for 10 years and to find someone that we felt we were made for each other. We were going to do all the things that we’d always dreamed of doing with someone and she was the person I never thought I’d meet. Perfect for me. We were perfect for each other.”

Paul Price spoke about losing the love of his life Elaine McIver, from Frodsham, when she was killed in the Manchester Arena bomb. Picture: BBC

In a statement issued shortly after Elaine’s death, her devastated family said Paul was the ‘love of her life’ and the couple had been excitedly planning their future, including buying a house in Widnes together.

She was the daughter of Pat and Frank and sister to Paul and Lynda. Elaine was also auntie to Sami and Nicky.

Elaine was ‘the best we could ever have wished for’, said the family.

Detective Constable Elaine McIver was a serving Cheshire Constabulary officer who had been working for the North West regional crime unit (TITAN) during a career spanning 20 years.

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Elaine started as a special constable and became a regular officer in September 1998.

She had worked in Ellesmere Port, Warrington and for the Economic Crime Unit at Winsford HQ before moving to TITAN in 2013.

Elaine’s funeral took place at Chester Cathedral last July. Her coffin arrived in a horse-drawn hearse flanked by two police horses.

The cortège was met by uniformed pall bearers and a uniformed guard of honour. As the pall bearers carried her coffin inside, the crowds who had gathered to pay their respects spontaneously burst into heartfelt applause.