The daughter of Australian reality TV stars had an early sign of a rare malignancy that was a chronic bruise.
Following their debut on the competitive cooking program My Kitchen Rules, Carly Saunders and Tresne Middleton became reality TV sensations in Australia. But what made them well-liked celebrities Down Under was their eight-year IVF struggle, which they recorded on their Instagram page.
On June 2, 2021, the couple had a daughter, Poppy Grace. Poppy, however, was diagnosed with infantile acute lymphoblastic leukemia not long after she was born, which the Mayo Clinic defines as “cancer of the blood and bone marrow — the spongy tissue inside bones where blood cells are made.”
Just four months shy of her second birthday, Poppy passed away in February of this year after a protracted battle.
The pair is now talking openly about the early symptoms of this uncommon illness.
“We observed that her belly was beginning to grow. Consequently, it had some distention. And she would have very massive vomit when she was eating,” Middleton told the Australian news outlet 7news.
Before turning one, Poppy underwent a bone marrow transplant due to her condition. But two days later, Poppy’s condition deteriorated, and physicians had to break the bad news to her parents.
Middleton remembered, “Doctors suggested to spend as much time with her as you can.”
They received an additional eight months as a result of pharmaceutical studies, and according to Middleton, “Poppy came into her own during that time, like we saw her personality, we got to see just what a little shining star she was.”
