Husband of woman famous for Thanksgiving text to stranger dies of coronavirus
Jamal Hinton has spent the last four Thanksgivings with the family.
The husband of a woman who became famous in 2016 for a Thanksgiving-related texting mixup has died from complications related to COVID-19.
Lonnie Dench, whose wife, Wanda, sent a text presumably to her grandson but actually to Jamal Hinton four years ago, died over the weekend, according to Hinton, who spent the last four Thanksgivings with the family.
"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!" he wrote on Twitter.
Hinton, 20, previously had tweeted that both Lonnie and Wanda had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. As of Thursday, Wanda was no longer sick, Hinton said.
At least 15,774 people in the United States have died after contracting the virus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
When Wanda sent that first text in 2016, thinking it was to her grandson, Hinton responded by asking her to send a photo of herself so he could confirm it was his own grandmother.
When the photo of Dench came through, Hinton wrote back, "[You're] not my grandma" with a laughing emoji.
He then sent a selfie of his own and asked if he could still come over for Thanksgiving.
"Of course you can," Dench replied. "That's what grandmas do ... feed everyone."
Related Topics
Related Stories
ABC News Live