The brother of a terminally ill patient has shared his story about how his sister was comforted during her final moments before she passed away by an act of amazing kindness by the British singer-songwriter, Ed Sheeran.

15-year-old Triona Priestly from Dublin in Ireland, died in 2014 after losing her battle with cystic fibrosis.

Her sibling, Aiden Priestley, appeared on Ireland’s The Ray D’Arcy Show to share the heartbreaking story of how Sheeran called Triona during her last minutes of life to sing her ‘Little Bird’, which was her favourite song. Priestley said:

“We were in this small little ICU room. Triona in this huge bed, covered in tubes and machines.

“My brother left the room. He returned and said, ‘I’m just going to put you on loud speaker,’ and he clicks it, then Ed Sheeran comes on, saying, ‘Hi Triona. I hear you’re a big fan'.” He continued:

“(Ed) speaks to her and hears her favourite song is ‘Little Bird’, and he plays the full song – plays all the way through and then some more.”

Sheeran performed Triona Priestly's favourite song for her moments before she passed away. Her brother added:

“Then we hang up on him – probably a bit rude at the time – the doctor lifts the stethoscope to tell us her heart had stopped. And we take the mask off because she’d been on a machine to breathe – and in that moment, I remember, a burst of light comes from the window and she smiled”.

The 'Shape of You' hitmaker was originally put in touch with the family after his fans launched the Twitter campaign #SongForTri. He tweeted his sympathies when Triona died in April 2014.

Listen to the full story below: