Mom finds out about her daughter's death through Facebook

Deborah Byrne, 47, found out about her child's death in the worst possible way -- she saw Facebook posts about it.

The U.K. mom opened up about the heartbreaking incident that happened on May 23, 2016, after seeing a heartwarming tribute to her daughter, Brogan.

Deborah was relaxing at home and checking Facebook when she noticed messages on Brogan's wall including "Gone too soon" and "I can't believe the news," according to The Sun.

"Then a friend of Brogan's wrote to me "I'm so sorry" in a private message, so I asked what the hell she was talking about," she told The Sun.

"That's when I started screaming. The penny had dropped – Brogan was dead. At that moment my heart shattered."

Deborah met with her sister, and together they tried to get a hold of the Northamptonshire Police to get official confirmation of what had happened.

Since Brogan was involved in an accident that happened 45 miles away, her name wasn't coming up in the local police's system.

Finally, more than 12 hours after the incident, an officer from Thames Valley Police confirmed to Brogan's mother that the 21-year-old was killed in a head-on collision.

"We were desperately trying to get hold of the Northamptonshire Police to get official confirmation of what had happened. But because the crash had happened in Oxfordshire, 45 miles away, Brogan's name wasn't coming up on our local police's system. I couldn't believe I'd found out about my daughter's death on Facebook."

Finally, at 1 p.m. on May 23, an officer from Thames Valley Police – the force which covers Oxfordshire – confirmed Brogan had died, following a head-on crash on the A40 Shrivenham bypass in Oxfordshire at 11:15 p.m.