A postman managed to reunite a heartbreaking Father's Day letter with a little girl who tried to send it to her dad in 'Heaven', following a social media plea.
The postal worker found the letter when collecting post from a post box in Braunstone, Leicester, on Monday (21 June).
Worrying that without a valid postal address it would get thrown away, he went online to see if he could find the family.
The postman, who has not been named, posted a photo of the letter in the Spotted Braunstone Facebook group, explaining: "I'm a postman in the Braunstone area; earlier today I emptied the red pillar box on Bewicke Road (junc. of Folville Avenue) and there was a letter in a child's handwriting addressed to their dad in Heaven, Cloud 9.
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"I'm trying to find the parents of the child as I would like to reach out to them and with their permission sort out a little something for the child.
"I myself lost my dad last year and as an adult found it hard so I can only imagine what this child is going through. Please, if anyone has any details then it would be hugely appreciated."
Though the power of social media, the postman discovered that the letter had been written by an eight-year-old girl called Sianna Tully, whose mother felt 'overwhelmed' by the reaction online.
Speaking to the BBC, mum Sarah Tully said: "I never thought this would happen. I'm in shock."
Sarah explained they had lost her daughter's dad, Tony, when the little girl was just four months old, and she is 'only just starting to understand'.
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The anonymous postman told the outlet that he was 'taken aback' when he saw the letter, saying: "Obviously without a stamp or an actual address on it, if it got put in with the rest of the stuff to be delivered it would just end up getting thrown away in transit somewhere.
"I spoke to my manager and asked if I could try to get hold of the family to find out more about it and get it back to them."
Amazingly, it took just 15 minutes for him to get in touch with the family, and arranged for the unopened letter to be returned.
In another interview with Leicestershire Live, Sarah said Sianna had asked her where her dad now lives, to which she replied: "Heaven, on Cloud Nine."
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She explained that she wouldn't read Sianna's private letter to Tony, but said she would keep it - along with prints of the social media comments - in a special box for when her daughter is older.
She explained: "Sianna just came into the room that evening and asked 'where does Daddy live?' so she could write the address to a letter she had written.
"I have no idea what is in it, I always say that's between her and her dad.
"I told her it was too late to post it at first but she started crying, so I said 'come on then' and we walked to the post box down the street."
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Featured Image Credit: Facebook
Topics: Viral, UK News, News, Letter