Influencer Melissa Mae Carlton, who is originally from the UK but now lives in Florida, has shared that her youngest daughter Molly sadly passed away, just 20 months after her other daughter Abigail died in 2024.
Melissa has 128k followers on Instagram and shared her family life with her husband Tom and four kids: Lily, Harry, Abigail and Molly. Molly unexpectedly passed away on Christmas Day after being rushed to hospital in the early hours, and the influencer announced the devastating news on Instagram.
Alongside photos of her daughter in a hospital bed, she wrote: “On Christmas morning, our sweet Molly girl, and her big sister Abi were reunited. This is the only thing giving me even a small sense of comfort. Molly missed her sister so deeply. She would often ask me, ‘Mummy, when is Jesus coming back so Abi can come down?’”
“We are devastated. In disbelief. Confused and in shock. We are exhausted and shaken after a day filled with trauma and heartbreak. I feel numb. I cannot yet accept that this is real. I am not ready for this pain.”
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Linen & Grace (@melissamaecarlton)After the post, a lot of speculation surfaced surrounding the circumstances of Molly and her sister Abi’s death. In a second update to clear things up, Melissa revealed that they don’t have an official diagnosis, but the doctor believes Molly had a genetic heart condition and “suspect this may have been the case with Abi as well”.
Abi suddenly passed away at just nine years old in April 2024 after battling sepsis, and the influencer had been sharing her journey with grief on social media. Molly’s cause of death hasn’t been revealed at the time of writing this.
“I’m sharing this because I believe it could be critical information for families who have experienced SUDC (sudden unexpected death in children). This understanding came because Molly was able to be monitored in the hospital, which we were not able to do with Abi,” the post continued.
The influencer said she’s “never felt satisfied” with the answers she was given after Abi’s death, but they’ve been told that with this type of genetic condition, “even a minor illness could potentially trigger a sudden cardiac event”.
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She added: “That morning, we witnessed many small miracles. Paramedics were stationed just three minutes away and arrived quickly. The pediatric trauma centre was only fifteen minutes from where we were. We were in the best possible place, with everything aligned for the best conditions and the best outcome. Her little body fought so hard. But we’ve been told that this type of cardiac event is, in most cases, not survivable.
“I hope we will get more answers soon and will be doing more genetic investigation for our family now we have possibly a clearer avenue to explore.”
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Featured image by: Melissa Mae Carlton
