Influencer Melissa Mae Carlton is paying tribute to daughter Abi two years after her unexpected death at age 9.
“April 11th, 2024 was the first worst day of our lives. I spend so much of my time trying to remember you, while at the same time trying to pretend this isn’t real,” Carlton wrote via Instagram on Saturday, April 11. “I try to remember to count backwards instead of forwards. We’re getting closer to you, not further away. I was able to be a part of the Life After Loss Conference a couple of weeks ago at BYU and I loved how @hankrsmith Smith said it ‘the day they die is the furthest away you will ever be from them.’”
She concluded, “Two years closer to you, Abi 🥹. My cousin had a dream about her last night running around laughing and smiling. I think I can see her doing just that 🩵🩵.”
Carlton shared a compilation of clips featuring Abi through the years, smiling with her siblings and running on the beach.
“April 11th 2024 was the furthest we will ever be from you. Two years closer to seeing you again,” she wrote over the video.
More than one year after Abi’s death, Melissa shared that she and husband Tom Carlton’s daughter Molly died on Christmas morning in December 2025. (The couple are also parents to daughter Lily and son Harry.)
“On Christmas morning, our sweet Molly girl, and her big sister Abi were reunited,” Melissa wrote in an Instagram statement. “We are devastated. In disbelief. Confused and in shock. We are exhausted and shaken after a day filled with trauma and heartbreak.”
She continued, “I feel numb. I cannot yet accept that this is real. I am not ready for this pain. … I am scared of what life looks like now for us. I am heartbroken for our children.”
Influencer Melissa Mae Carlton has returned to social media less than three months after the tragic and sudden death of her youngest daughter, Molly. “On December 25th, I came on here and asked the 30-something-thousand people who were following me to pray on their knees for a miracle,” Carlton wrote via her Instagram Stories on […]
In a follow-up post later that month, Melissa shared that she hadn’t received an “official diagnosis” that may provide insight into Molly’s cause of death.
“The doctors believe Molly had a genetic heart condition and suspect this may have been the case with Abi, as well,” she wrote at the time. “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.”
She continued, “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.”
Melissa wrote that Molly’s “little body fought so hard.”
“We’ve been told that this type of cardiac event is, in most cases, not survivable,” she stated. “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.”
