Rachael Prior was Christmas shopping with her family on 11 November when she was suddenly overcome with sadness.
The 43-year-old from west London in the U.K. had spotted a red jumper in the menswear department of U.K. retailer Marks and Spencer. It was a gift that, not so long ago, she would've purchased for her father Lynton Shackleton Prior -- but he had died from cancer aged 73 and his absence was all of a sudden unbearable.
Filled with emotion, Rachael took to Twitter to explain how much she missed her dad at Christmas time and it wasn't long before a beautiful stream of solidarity and support poured in from strangers across the globe.
"It was a small moment of catharsis that was helpful to me at the time," Rachael told HuffPost UK. "Now it has snowballed into this incredible outpouring of grief and community support."