Melissa Mae Carlton Receives Diagnosis in Memory of Her Late Daughter
Influencer Melissa Mae Carlton is providing insights regarding the revelations her family has encountered following the loss of her daughters.
“Almost four months later, we now have a diagnosis for Molly, and we’re nearly 100 percent certain that it’s the same condition that Abigail had,” Carlton shared in an Instagram video on Thursday, April 23, Instagram.
Carlton disclosed that Molly, who passed away in 2025 at age 5, was diagnosed with PPA2, a “genetic mitochondrial condition” inherited from carrier parents. Nearly two years prior to Molly’s passing, Carlton’s daughter Abigail unexpectedly passed away at age 9. (The influencer and her husband, Tom, also have a daughter named Lily and a son named Harry.)
Carlton mentioned that her family is “in the midst of testing” to officially determine whether “anyone else actually has the disease,” and she asked her followers for prayers. She became emotional as she recalled her followers praying for Molly and their family in December 2025.
In the video, Carlton explained that she had chosen to take a break from social media for the past few months but felt the need to “share what has been happening.”
“It may feel uncomfortable for some, but I felt deeply betrayed. I kept thinking, ‘This cannot be real.’ To lose a child and then, 18 months later, on Christmas Day, to have it happen again, I just wondered, ‘Why would God allow this to happen to us once more?’” she recounted. “It was an agonizing day at the trauma center. The doctors couldn’t identify the problem. I just hoped, ‘She’s going to wake up and tell me she’s been with [Abigail], and it will all be okay. It will be an incredible miracle.’”
She continued, “The doctors tried all day to help her body recover from this cardiac event, but ultimately they could not keep her with us. We left the hospital that evening completely shocked and terrified, knowing we had to return and tell our now two children that they had just lost another sister.”
In the caption, Carlton expressed that she had “wrestled deeply with God” after Molly’s passing in December 2025.
“Losing one child seemed impossible… losing two felt cruel,” she wrote. “I still struggle with this at times. I don’t fully understand. But I’m trying to cling to the truths I know — that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father, that we lived with Him before, and that we chose to come to earth and experience a fallen world to learn and grow more like Him, with the assurance that all things will eventually be made right and that families are eternal.”
She continued, “Now, after months of testing, we have answers and I feel an urgency to share. We discovered that Molly had a rare genetic mitochondrial condition known as PPA2, and we are almost certain Abigail had it too. It’s not a structural heart issue, rather a failure of energy at the cellular level, which can trigger sudden cardiac events in children who otherwise appear completely healthy. It is considered extremely rare but significantly under-tested. I believe there are numerous sudden, unexplained child deaths that go undiagnosed.”
Carlton noted that her family would not have answers without the Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood Foundation, which she said “immediately stepped in, advocated for us, and facilitated the genetic testing.”
“They also provide support for grieving families and are actively working to advance research to uncover more answers,” she wrote. “If you are a parent who has experienced a sudden or unexplained loss, please reach out to them for support and access to genetic testing.”
She concluded, “Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us, sent messages, and supported our family. We have truly felt it ❤️.”
