A grieving young woman who sent text messages to her dead father's phone every day got the surprise of a lifetime when she received an actual reply from his number.

Twenty-three-year-old Chastity Patterson, who hails from Newport in Arkansas, lost her father Jason Ligons four years ago. Since his death, she sent her daily life updates via text to his phone.

However, on the day before the fourth anniversary of his death, she was astonished to see a message from her dad arrive in her inbox.

It turned out that the reply came from a man named Brad, who had himself lost his daughter in 2014 in a devastating car crash. Brad had been receiving her messages for some time and had been touched by Chastity's grief and love. He hadn't wanted to speak out, until that day.

Brad stated: "Hi sweetheart, I am not your father, but I have been getting all your messages for the past four years. I look forward to your morning messages and your nightly updates. My name is Brad and I lost my daughter in a car wreck August 2014 and your messages kept me alive."

He continued: "When you text me, I know it’s a message from God. I’m sorry you lost someone so close to you, but I have listened to you over the years and I have watched you grow and go through more than anyone. I have wanted to text you back for years, but I didn’t want to break your heart."

He added: "You are an extraordinary woman and I wish my daughter would have become the woman you are, thank you for your everyday updates, you remind me that there is a God and it wasn’t his fault that my little girl is gone."

Chastity shared screenshots of the touching message from Brad on Facebook, where they quickly went viral, accruing over 151,000 likes, 20,000 comments, and 284,000 shares.

Chastity later took to Facebook to thank everyone who liked and shared her original post. She wrote: "I would like to thank everyone for the kind words and sharing my story, I never would have imagined the response it has gotten. I didn't share to gain anything, I just wanted my friends and family to know that I was okay and this year wasn't going to be hard for me.

"NOW I have learned that everything isn't for the world to know and there are some cruel people in the world, but to everyone that has messaged me images, letters and their kind words, I can say that everything is okay and there is nothing wrong with grieving how I did. Thank You

If you are struggling to cope with bereavement, then please don't hesitate to contact the Samaritans on 116 123, if you need help coping with a profound loss.

A grieving young woman who sent text messages to her dead father's phone every day got the surprise of a lifetime when she received an actual reply from his number.

Twenty-three-year-old Chastity Patterson, who hails from Newport in Arkansas, lost her father Jason Ligons four years ago. Since his death, she sent her daily life updates via text to his phone.

However, on the day before the fourth anniversary of his death, she was astonished to see a message from her dad arrive in her inbox.

It turned out that the reply came from a man named Brad, who had himself lost his daughter in 2014 in a devastating car crash. Brad had been receiving her messages for some time and had been touched by Chastity's grief and love. He hadn't wanted to speak out, until that day.

Brad stated: "Hi sweetheart, I am not your father, but I have been getting all your messages for the past four years. I look forward to your morning messages and your nightly updates. My name is Brad and I lost my daughter in a car wreck August 2014 and your messages kept me alive."

He continued: "When you text me, I know it’s a message from God. I’m sorry you lost someone so close to you, but I have listened to you over the years and I have watched you grow and go through more than anyone. I have wanted to text you back for years, but I didn’t want to break your heart."

He added: "You are an extraordinary woman and I wish my daughter would have become the woman you are, thank you for your everyday updates, you remind me that there is a God and it wasn’t his fault that my little girl is gone."

Chastity shared screenshots of the touching message from Brad on Facebook, where they quickly went viral, accruing over 151,000 likes, 20,000 comments, and 284,000 shares.

Chastity later took to Facebook to thank everyone who liked and shared her original post. She wrote: "I would like to thank everyone for the kind words and sharing my story, I never would have imagined the response it has gotten. I didn't share to gain anything, I just wanted my friends and family to know that I was okay and this year wasn't going to be hard for me.

"NOW I have learned that everything isn't for the world to know and there are some cruel people in the world, but to everyone that has messaged me images, letters and their kind words, I can say that everything is okay and there is nothing wrong with grieving how I did. Thank You

If you are struggling to cope with bereavement, then please don't hesitate to contact the Samaritans on 116 123, if you need help coping with a profound loss.