Another tragedy has fallen on Melissa Mae Carlton’s family.
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Carlton, a social media influencer whose content covers family and faith, first lost her 9-year-old daughter Abigail to sepsis in April 2024. Now, she has announced the death of her youngest daughter, Molly, from a possible heart defect.
“On Christmas morning, our sweet Molly girl, and her big sister Abi were reunited,” Carlton wrote. “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.”
She went on to add, “I am scared of what life looks like now for us. I am heartbroken for our children,” and asked for prayers as they begin to grieve. Carlton would also clarify Molly’s cause of death in response to the shocked reactions she received from her Instagram following.
“I hesitate to share a medical update already because we still don’t have an official diagnosis. But I do feel it’s important to let people know that we have some answers this time,” Carlton clarified. “The doctors believe Molly had a genetic heart condition and suspect this may have been the case with Abi as well. 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. I’ve never felt satisfied with the answers we were given for her. But this type of condition, we’ve been told that even a minor illness could potentially trigger a sudden cardiac event.
“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.”
Carlton also revealed her family plans on “doing more genetic investigation” to determine what happened to her daughters and to take precautionary measures going forward. She and her husband, Tom Carlton, are also parents to a son, Harry, and another daughter, Lily.