MKR stars’ share warning signs of disease that killed infant daughter

A couple who appeared on My Kitchen Rules have shared the warning signs of the deadly disease that killed their infant daughter.

Former My Kitchen Rules contestants Carly Saunders and Tresne Middleton have shared the warning signs of the deadly disease that killed their infant daughter.

The couple, who appeared on the fifth season of the Channel 7 show, welcomed “little miracle” Poppy Grace in June 2021, after an eight-year IVF journey.

Just weeks after bringing her home, however, they realised something was wrong – Poppy’s “belly was starting to get enlarged … and when she was feeding, she would have quite large vomits”, Middleton told 7Life.

She also had a bruise on her thigh that didn’t fade for more than a month.

Before Poppy was even three months old, Saunders and Middleton were delivered devastating news by her doctor: she had infantile acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow.

Former My Kitchen Rules contestants Carly Saunders and Tresne Middleton have shared the warning signs of the deadly disease that killed their infant daughter. Picture: Instagram

“It’s something that you always hear that happens to somebody, but you never think it’s going to happen to you,” Saunders said.

“We didn’t even really believe it at first because it’d been such a long journey to even have Poppy.

“We’d been trying since 2012 to have a baby and then she was our little miracle. Then for that to happen … We thought we were going to lose her that night. Every day was a battle.”

Poppy Grace was diagnosed with infantile acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at 11 weeks old. Picture: Instagram

‘Looking back, we think, how did we not notice she was so pale? But because it happened so gradually, we had no idea.’ Picture: Instagram

Saunders added that in retrospect, she and Middleton couldn’t believe they hadn’t realised something was wrong.

“With leukaemia, if they’re pale, if they’ve got bruises or excessive bleeding – they are generally signs that the leukaemia is affecting their marrow, which therefore affects their blood,” she explained.

“Looking back, we think, how did we not notice she was so pale? But because it happened so gradually, we had no idea.

“We didn’t realise that her bones were full of leukaemia and she was probably in pain. So it’s hard to think back on now.”

‘She was our little miracle.’ Picture: Instagram

Poppy received a bone-marrow transplant two days before her first birthday. Picture: Instagram

Poppy died in the early hours of February 16. Picture: Instagram

The couple was told that Poppy required a bone-marrow transplant – which she received, two days before her first birthday. But within 96 hours, she’d taken a turn for the worse.

“Doctors said to spend as much time with her as you can,” Middleton recalled.

By February last year – when Poppy was 20 months old – she was receiving a quarter of the amount of pain relief of an adult dose, despite being one-tenth in size.

“It still wasn’t doing the trick,” Middleton said, “and it was quite traumatic to try and keep her out of pain in the end.”

Their daughter died in the early hours of February 16 – with Middleton and Saunders unable to touch or hold her during her final moments, because she was being kept comfortable as “leukaemia took over her body”.

The pair are now encouraging people to donate blood – something of which “there’s a huge shortage of” at the moment, and an act that can help save the lives of cancer patients.

“It would be an injustice to Poppy and the impact she’s had on others” not to do so, they said.