A GP surgery accidentally told patients they had aggressive lung cancer instead of wishing them a merry Christmas.
Askern Medical Practice sent the message to people registered with the Doncaster surgery on 23 December.
Carl Chegwin, whose mother also received the text, said he was left upset by the out-of-the-blue message which "was enough to break someone".
The surgery said nobody was available for comment. The centre has almost 8,000 patients.
The text told recipients they had "aggressive lung cancer with metastases", a type of secondary malignant growth.
It directed patients to fill out a DS1500 form, which allows people with terminal diseases to claim certain benefits.
However, about an hour later people received a second text telling them it was an error and it was meant to wish them a merry Christmas instead.