Ed Sheeran fan died 'with a smile on her face' after star phoned up to serenade her

The brother of a 15-year-old girl who tragically passed away in 2014 has opened up about her final moments, revealing that she passed away “with a smile on her face” after her favourite singer, Ed Sheeran, called to serenade her.

Triona Priestly suffered from cystic fibrosis and had been in intensive care at Temple Street Hospital for almost two weeks before her death, with her family launching a social media campaign using the hashtag #songforTri in a bid to get Ed’s attention.

Triona’s friends appealed for the popstar to sing her favourite song, ‘Little Bird’, as her final wish and nobody could believe it when the kindhearted singer obliged.

The teen’s brother, Aidan, was in the audience for Ray D’Arcy’s show on RTE One in Ireland over the weekend, where he bravely spoke out on his sister’s death.

He explained: “I just remember the day. We were in this small little ICU room. There was myself, my brothers, our partners, my parents, Triona’s godfather, his wife and the hospital staff.

“Triona was in a huge bed, covered with tubes and machines, a little box window ahead of her on top.

“My brother Colm left the room but he returned then and he was on the phone. He just says ‘I’m going to put you on loudspeaker quickly’ and clicks it and we hear Ed Sheeran.

“He says: “Hi Triona, I hear you’re a big fan.” He heard that her favourite song is little bird and he begins to play and the guitar comes through.

“He plays the whole song. We tell him very quickly thanks very much and that we have to go. We have to hang up on him… it was probably a bit rude at the time.

“The doctor lifts his stethoscope to tell us that her heart has stopped. We take the mask off because she had been on a machine to breathe. Just in that moment, I can remember a burst of light comes through that window and she’s smiling.

“It’s this big room and my family hasn’t gotten smaller – it’s grown by the thousands of people that Triona has invited in.

“I feel that every day, it stays with us all the time.”

On the one year anniversary of Triona’s death, her family released a YouTube montage of pre-recorded messages of Triona speaking about living with cystic fibrosis.

Opening up, she explained: “When I wake up, I have it again, I fight it again, I go to sleep, wake up again, fight it again, I win every day.

“I fight CF every day and I win. And I will always win, no matter what, even if I get seriously sick and die from something CF related it still isn’t winning, I’m killing it.

“Whether that kills me in the meantime… I’m proud to say I’m fighting.”

Cystic fibrosis is caused by a faulty gene and affects around 10,800 people in the UK.

Read more:

[ Ed Sheeran to release secretly recorded songs later this year ]

[ Ed Sheeran spent six hours watching fans react to his new album ]

[ James Arthur slams Justin Bieber, Zayn Malik and Ed Sheeran ]