Jamal Hinton, who went viral after being accidentally invited to Thanksgiving by a grandmother in Arizona four years ago, shared some sad news today.

Wanda Dench, who ended up becoming friends with Hinton over the accidental text and became the centre of a viral story, and her husband Lonnie both contracted COVID-19. 

Sadly, Lonnie was not able to beat the illness and has passed away.

Hinton shared on Twitter that Lonnie passed away on Sunday morning after spending time in the hospital fighting the virus and pneumonia .

“As some of you may have already found out tonight Lonnie did not make it… he passed away Sunday morning,” he said.

“But Wanda told me all the love and support he was receiving put a huge smile on his face so I thank every single one of you guys for that.”

Wanda confirmed to media outlet AZ Family that her husband passed away, saying that "He had the truest heart of love, like no other. He did so many acts of kindness that no one ever heard about. He was my hero. And I’m a better person because of him."

Lonnie had reportedly been delivering water to grocery stores at night, weeks before contracting the virus. 

Lonnie and Wanda ended up becoming friends with Hinton in 2016, after Wanda texted a dinner invite to the wrong number.

Hinton, who was the receiver of the invite, ended up accepting the invitation and shared the interaction on Twitter where the heartwarming exchange went viral.