Community
21 February, 2025
Brave Poppy’s struggle
AT just five years old, Innisfail’s Poppy Jennifer Pickett has endured over 50 blood transfusions, countless hospital stays, and a bone marrow transplant in her battle with Diamond-Blackfan anaemia — but after four years, life is finally smiling on the brave little girl.

In a battle that started at only six-weeks-old, Poppy was put into intensive care when a blood test revealed her body didn’t produce red blood cells. This would be the beginning of a journey for the girl’s young family, including 30-year-old mum Emma-Joy and older brother Hunter.
“Poppy was born in Cairns and at six-weeks-old she had a blood test that came back and said that she had really low haemoglobin and that we needed to go to emergency,” Ms Pickett said.
“She really didn’t have that newborn phase, she’s had this condition – Diamond-Blackfan anaemia – since she was six-weeks-old, which is the red blood disease where she can’t make her own red blood cells, so she needs blood transfusions.
“It took us probably a year of tests to know what her condition was. We were just doing blood transfusions, hoping that it would be a top up, and that’s it. But she never made it (red blood cells) herself.
“Initially we were on a steroid trial to see if that would prompt her bone marrow to make red blood cells but it failed, so she would need blood transfusions for the rest of her life.
“Eventually we looked at a bone marrow transplant because her transfusions were getting more frequent which was causing an iron buildup which is hard to expel from the body, but there are a lot of risks associated with the transplant – she could’ve died.”
Ms Pickett said the struggles went beyond the hospitals, treatments and diagnostics – it was the emotional and mental toll what drained the most.
“Poppy’s coming up to the 18th month milestone of her bone marrow transplant, she can now travel overseas, she’s not on any medication, she’s done a full year of school – prep last year – and she just started grade one,” she said.
“She’s coming over the medical trauma that she’s had, so she was so withdrawn and shy and when she started school last year. She had no hair, she had an NG tube, so it was rough this year. Her hair has grown back a bit so I’m looking forward to her having a positive start to school.
“This has affected her emotionally with making friends and not being able to do what other children can do. Her brother Hunter also felt the impact, people at school would tell him his sister was going to die or that his sister was a boy, so it was really hard on our family, but it also brought us closer together.
“Being at this new stage it’s a massive weight off, we don’t have to go to appointments as regularly, we don’t have to administer any medication. As a working parent to make the time for appointments and continue to pay the bills it’s really hard.”
Ms Pickett thanked the not-for-profit Childhood Cancer Support for their help through the long hospital stays at the Brisbane Children’s Hospital where Poppy had to receive treatment.
“I had to take unpaid carer’s leave from work and I was away from work for seven months. In that time, I didn’t know if I had a job to come back to,” she said.
“I didn’t have an income for a long time, so having Childhood Cancer Support there as a home – because we had to go from Cairns to Brisbane and stay there for seven months – so having accommodation at low or no cost was amazing. They had beds, linens, some food. They also offered toys, presents, counsellors to talk to.”
After four years of hospitals and struggles for Poppy and her family, Ms Pickett said she was excited about the new journey ahead. “This has brought us closer together and for us to go back to some sort of normalcy is amazing,” she said.