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see more: Woman Says Man Dumped Her After Her Grandma Died: ‘Modern Dating Is So Chaotic’ (Exclusive)

Samantha McPherson, who first shared her story in a TikTok video posted March 22, tells PEOPLE she did not anticipate the story would gain so much traction

A Rhode Island woman is opening up to PEOPLE about the heartbreaking story she shared on TikTok about experiencing a breakup right after learning her grandmother died.

Samantha McPherson first shared the story in a TikTok video posted March 22, which has since been viewed nearly 575,000 times.

In the video, McPherson revealed that a man she had been casually dating ended things with her just moments after she informed him that her grandmother had passed.

The 30-year-old Rhode Island woman tells PEOPLE she posted the video the morning after the breakup, but did not anticipate it would gain so much traction. “I think it goes to show how many people have been in this same situation,” she explains. “Modern dating is so chaotic.”

McPherson says she and her recent love interest first met while they were both home for Christmas in Connecticut. She was in town from Newport, R.I., and he was visiting from Los Angeles.

The two grabbed a drink and “really hit it off,” according to McPherson. They eventually exchanged cellphone numbers and talked “daily for the next couple of months.”

Later on, the two discussed meeting up once more. He suggested McPherson visit him in Los Angeles, and she agreed, meeting up with him in mid-March.

“We had a great time together,” McPherson tells PEOPLE. “He introduced me to his friends, we went on dates, we went on hikes. It was super fun.” 

Although the two never made their relationship official, at the end of her trip, McPherson says she expressed interest in continuing to learn more about him and see where things went, and he apparently agreed.

But while on a layover during her trip home on Monday, March 18, McPherson learned her grandmother died. By Thursday, March 21, the Rhode Island woman says she was finally back at her Newport home. 

McPherson then began to chat on FaceTime with the man, who broke his own bad news.

“He actually started and he said, ‘I know this is terrible timing.’ I was like, ‘Oh my God, no. It’s literally terrible timing and you’re doing exactly what you said you wouldn’t do,’ ” she recalls.

McPherson claims the man had promised they would continue dating when she returned to the East Coast. She says he “used every cliché in the book” during the breakup, and said he wanted to “take the romantic emotions out” of their relationship.

The two agreed they would not speak with each other any more, and hung up the phone. “We haven’t talked since,” McPherson tells PEOPLE.

Three weeks later, McPherson says she still has not heard anything from him, and has not attempted to contact him either.

“We both definitely are going through some stuff on a personal side, so neither of us are really looking for a relationship,” she tells PEOPLE. “So it’s giving right person, wrong time.” 

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McPherson says she has not closed the door on dating in the near future. She is also apparently “very open to re-exploring things” with the same man in the future.

“I do think that we had a really good connection,” she explains. “I don’t think that if it got brought back up, that is something that I would want to throw away.”