Woman texts brother months after death and gets comforting response
Number had been reassigned - but stranger on other end was suffering similar heartbreak
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.When a woman sent a text to her brother’s mobile to tell him how much she missed him, she was probably not expecting a reply as he had passed away six months earlier.
She had carried on occasionally messaging the number as part of her grieving process.
Then someone responded – leading to an exchange that has now gone viral online.
The number, it seems, had been reassigned meaning that when the woman, who has not identified herself, sent her latest text – ‘I just MISS YOU so much. God. What the hell’ – it landed in a stranger’s inbox.
The recipient replied, saying: “I’m sorry to hear that you’re missing someone but unfortunately you have the wrong number.
“I know,” text the woman, explaining to the stranger that this had been her brother’s number and she had carried on texting it “like he could hear [her].”
But it seems the stranger was in a position to understand.
“I’m going through a similar thing right now,” she said. “My cousin who’s like a sister to me isn’t doing well and is expected to pass any day now so I completely understand. Feel free to text any time you need.”
The messages were shared on online discussion forum Reddit, where they quickly went viral.
“I was dreading the day [my brother’s] number got reassigned,” the woman, who is believed to be from the US, wrote but said the exchange had now made her “love humans even more”.
Writing later in the comments, she revealed her older brother by two years had died on 4 March as a result of heroin use.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments