A heartbroken dad discovered secret notes written by his daughter hidden inside their old hairbrush – just one day after visiting her grave.
Sérgio Fermino made the emotional discovery more than three years after his seven-year-old daughter Isabela Tibúrcio Fermino was tragically killed by a falling tree.
Isabela was struck by a eucalyptus tree while out with her family at Taquaral Lagoon in Campinas, Brazil, on the morning of 24 January 2023.
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The family had been celebrating her cousin’s birthday when tragedy struck and Isabela died at the scene.
She would have turned 11 last Wednesday (19 August), as reported by Need To Know.
Just days earlier, on Sunday (16 August), grieving Sérgio had visited his daughter’s grave at Parque das Flores Cemetery in Hortolândia.
The following day, he was using the hairbrush he once shared with Isabela when it suddenly fell from his hand and came apart.
Inside were several tiny pieces of paper, containing messages his daughter had written years earlier.
Sérgio told local media: “I cried a lot there on Sunday. I took some time to sit and reflect on how much I miss her, and to ask God to heal me and help me through my grief.
“Then, on Monday, when I went to brush my hair, the brush fell out of my hand and came apart. Inside, there were a few little pieces of paper rolled up.”
Sérgio said reading the messages brought him a sense of comfort that was difficult to explain.
He said: “One of the little notes said, ‘Dad, it’s Isabela.’
“Another read, ‘I love you.’
“Just one day after I cried my eyes out because I missed her so much, I received a gift like this.
“To me, it’s impossible to explain unless it was an act of God’s kindness.”
The hairbrush itself holds precious memories for Sérgio, who used it to comb Isabela’s hair every morning before school.
He explained: “It was my job to brush my daughter’s hair. Every day, I was the one who brushed it. And it was quite a job – it took a lot of cream, I can tell you!
“My hair is curly too, so the brush worked for me as well. So we shared the same brush.”
Sérgio believes the hidden notes were probably written during the pandemic, when he spent time at home teaching his daughter to read.
He said: “I realised that it was from the time when she was learning to put letters together. I spent time with her at home teaching her to read.
“She wasn’t really writing yet, but she would try to put the letters together by herself, you know?”
A 27-year-old woman was also seriously injured when the tree fell on the day Isabela died.
She underwent two operations before eventually being discharged from hospital.
Sérgio said the pain of losing his daughter remains overwhelming more than three years later.
He added: “The sense of loss is overwhelming. Every day when I wake up, it feels as though it’s 24 January 2023 all over again.
“It’s terrible waking up and knowing she’s not there. It’s horrible. Then, as the day goes on, we gradually find the strength to carry on.
“No matter the distance between heaven and earth, nothing can ever surpass a father’s love for his daughter.”
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