Woman Devastated After She Sends Text to Father Who Died Months Earlier — and Gets Response: 'My Heart Dropped' (Exclusive)

"My heart dropped when my message turned blue and delivered," Nilufar Nizam writes on TikTok

A woman is going viral after sharing that a text message she sent to her late father was delivered — but that the number had been reassigned.

In a series of photos shared to TikTok, Nilufar Nizam ("Nelly") shares how, months after she began sending messages to her late father's old phone number, she got a response.

"My heart dropped when my message turned blue and delivered," Nizam, 26, writes on TikTok.

In a message sent May 29, 2023, Nizam wrote, "Hi Dad. It's been 5 months since you're gone. I miss you so much. I wish you were here next to me. The pain of losing you has been the hardest thing I ever went through. I love you so much ... I will always love and miss you Dad."

The person who received the message wrote back, "oh my I'm so sorry," alerting Nizam that they "had just recently gotten this phone number."

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Nizam tells PEOPLE that her dad died on Jan. 17, 2023 — a day that her world turned upside down.

"Growing up, my relationship with him was great, he was always so loving, caring, and intelligent," she says. "He taught me many great things in life, and has given me advice that helped me better my future. He was a man who knew a person from the first interaction, so I always trusted his judgement."

She adds that his relationship with her mother wasn't quite as strong, and the two split in 2019. "After their split ... I held a resentment deep down. However, I loved him deeply and was always there for him when he needed me."

When she went through a difficult relationship in her own life, it was her dad who helped Nizam pick up the pieces. "My life changed when I left my relationship in November 2022. During the significant change that was occurring in my life, I remember my dad being there for me every step of the way until the day he passed," she says.

She continues: "I struggled a lot after losing him in January, because at that point I lost two people within a very short period. His advice, his laughter, his warm hugs were helping me recover from my past relationship. But when he passed away within two months of me ending my relationship, I became lost again."

One month after he died, Nizam picked up her phone, finding solace in a habit that had once been so routine: sending her dad a text message.

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"I was still in shock and disbelief that he was gone. However, after a month, I found comfort in messaging him," she says. "I always updated him with the things me and my brother were doing. Always texted him my emotions, and what I was going through, hoping maybe his spirit can be there."

And while the text messages became therapeutic for Nizam, a few months later, things changed when she got a response.

"I was going through a lot in that moment, and I just wanted to express how much I miss him and needed him," she tells PEOPLE. "However, as soon as I hit 'send,' the message turned blue — usually it would be green — and my heart dropped."

She continues: "For a second, I felt that perhaps he was alive, and read my message. But I was wrong. A stranger answered me and notified me that she got a new number. After some of her words, I knew I wasn’t able to text that number on iMessage anymore."

After realizing someone else was assigned the number he had used for more than 10 years, Nizam says she stopped messaging her dad — but she continues to reach out in other ways, she tells PEOPLE.

"I stopped for a little due to the pain I was feeling," she says. "However, now I message him on the app, Telegram. Texting him always brought me comfort."

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