Delivering an inspirational recount of his life story on Tuesday evening, Hibbert had been invited to the Academy’s final all-staff meeting of the 2023/24 campaign. These meetings, held every six weeks throughout the season, regularly feature motivational or educational workshops and speeches from experts of all varieties.
Hibbert was just six metres away from the bomb on 22 May 2017 and told staff how he was hit by 22 pieces of shrapnel, one of which severed an artery in his neck and another which severed his spinal cord, rendering him paralysed. His daughter, Eve, was struck in the temple by another piece of shrapnel.