'She shone so brightly.' MKR's Carly and Tresne on losing their daughter Poppy at 20 months.

My Kitchen Rules stars Carly Saunders and Tresne Middleton have sadly announced the passing of their 20-month-old daughter Poppy Grace. 

Speaking to Mamamia, the couple described how the practical and emotional support of their incredible community has kept them going while they plan Poppy's funeral and celebration of her short life.

"Poppy never had a proper birthday party because she was so immuno-compromised," Carly told Mamamia.

"Because of her leukemia and also because of COVID restrictions, Poppy only ever got to see most people through a glass door. And yet her smiles, strength and positivity during treatment gave us and many other people so much joy. This is why we are working on making her funeral a celebration of life. 

"We are working on making this the best day ever - for Poppy." 

Watch: A day in the life of a young cancer patient. Post continues below.

Poppy Grace had been fighting a rare form of leukaemia for most of her life after being diagnosed at just 12 weeks old. 

"As soon as doctors diagnosed her, we knew she was high risk. While we always hoped she would recover, looking back now we can see her situation was much more dire than we ever realised."

Poppy had a bone marrow transplant in April 2022 and devastatingly by June 2022, she had relapsed.

"She was one of the quickest ever relapses, so we were told she might only be with us for weeks or months, but she bravely held on until last week.

"Poppy spent so much of her life in hospital; 549 days in treatment and just 139 days at home. It was very hard to plan anything during that time and every time we tried to take her anywhere, she was just too sick. It was very hard but as the nurses and doctors would tell us, we were her home and her family and she was happy with us wherever we were. She also loved her toys and books!

"We spent so much time in the hospital that the nurses were like our housemates and they all fell in love with Poppy! She was so resilient and determined and just got on with it all. She was a ridiculous bundle of joy."

Carly and Tresne had been sharing aspects of her treatment journey with their close-knit social media community since it began and on February 16, the pair announced that their precious daughter would be "forever 20 months old".

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"This morning we lost our precious baby Poppy Grace," the mums wrote on Instagram.

"True to form she fought tooth and nail until her final breath. Her leukemia took over and at her last bloods the blasts were 787,000. That fighting spirit was so prominent right throughout her battle and it was so evident in the last 4 traumatic days.

"Poppy showed us what it is to be grateful and happy with whatever cards you are dealt. She made the most of her time on earth, dancing, giggling and smiling right until days from the end. She was loving and funny and nurturing. She was clever and empathetic. She had a heart of gold and she shone so brightly, oozing joy. We felt honoured to be her mums, and we didn’t take a second of that for granted, not a second. She taught us so very much in her short 20 months and we have never experienced a love as all-encompassing."

Carly and Tresne also added a special message for Poppy's youngest friends who were closely following her journey.

"We know there were so many children, teens and adults alike following her journey and we don’t want to hurt their beautiful hearts. Please tell them that Poppy’s star is shining brightly above them encouraging them to be strong when handed adversity, and to make the most of life and all it’s sparkling opportunities."

The devoted mums said that in the future they hope to spend some time giving back to by volunteering in disadvantaged communities overseas. They also hope to bring more awareness to the difficulties faced by families navigating cancer.

"Seeing what Poppy went through made us realise just how tough it is for so many, and we often would imagine what our experience would be like in a country without excellent oncology care.

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"We plan to continue telling Poppy's story to highlight the cruelty of childhood cancer and maybe one day write a book about her short life and how she inspired people from all over the world."

Carly and Tresne, who celebrated 10 years of marriage in 2022 and appeared on My Kitchen Rules in 2014, are holding Poppy's funeral in their hometown of Newcastle on February 23, 2023. They have requested that guests wear something floral to create "a glorious summer garden" like-celebration.

Instead of sending flowers, they have asked their community to continue to donate blood, platelets and plasma where possible.

"Please help Poppy live on through your much needed blood donations," they posted on Monday.

"The Poppy Grace Lifeblood Group are fourth in the Newcastle region’s leaderboard - let’s get her to first position. She has encouraged so many of us to Rise Up and help others by donating blood, please continue to give blood in her name."

To donate to Poppy Grace's GoFundMe page, click here. To find out more about donating blood and plasma, visit the Australian Red Cross LifeBlood website. 

Laura Jackel is Mamamia's Family Writer. For links to her articles and to see photos of her outfits and kids, follow her on Instagram and TikTok.

Feature Image: Canva/ Instagram @carlyandtresne.