'I'm sorry, I tried my best': Teen shares emotional letter her mother wrote before she died of cancer

A mother's heartbreaking letter to her daughter has been shared more than 90,000 times on several social media sites as the words reverberate with strangers across the globe.

The letter was written by a cancer-stricken mother, named Peggy Summers, who passed away of stage 4 kidney cancer in Indiana, US. Her 18-year-old daughter Hannah got the letter on the night her mother died.

The teenager told The BBC: "Reading the letter was so hard. We all read them on the night that Mom passed, so it was a very emotional experience. Even though it was so hard, it also brought me a lot of comfort.

"Her words helped me realise that no matter how hard this whole situation is going to be, she will always be with me."

Giving Hannah life's advice and assurance of love, Summers had penned down the letter in case she died during surgery. Though she survived the operation, she lost the battle four months later.

The loving letter begins with: "Hannah, if you are reading this then the surgery did not go well. I'm sorry, I tried my best to beat this terrible disease but I guess God had other things for me to do."

"You will both need to lean on each other and talk a lot which is not one of our strong points but try and don't give up," the deceased mother's advice to Hannah about school, boys and relationships added.

At the end of the letter, the mother asked her daughter to tell "everyone you love them as often as you can. Enjoy life and live each day as if it is your last because none of us know if today will be the last. And most of all remember that I love you more than you will ever know".

Summers signs off the letter with the word: "Mom." She was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in 2016. Before going away from her loved ones, she wrote letter for all of her children.

The teen later shared her mother's love on Twitter, saying: "Before my mom passed she wrote us all letters. This is mine."

"Please hug your parents a little closer and never take them for granted because you never know when you could lose them. I love you momma," the college student tweeted.

Thousands of people across the world reacted to Hannah's letter and shared their views.

One Facebook user said, "My mom passed also and she wrote me a letter exactly a year before just 'in case.' I treasure it daily. So sorry for your loss, stay strong."

While another wrote: "I lost my mom 2004. This is the truth! Hug them love them while they are here."

The responses have delighted Hannah and she said she is "so happy Mom's words have been able to touch so many people". "Life is precious and we should never take it or our loved ones for granted," she added.