A grieving couple solidified their daughter’s ashes into stones after she passed away at 15 months old.
Kaylee and Jake Massey from Idaho were unaware that their daughter, Poppy, had a rare genetic condition until she was four months old when they noticed her poor vision.
They took her to hospital where an MRI scan found that the middle part of Poppy’s brain had not formed properly.
Poppy was diagnosed with many different conditions and the couple went back and forth with doctors for months until she daughter was diagnosed with Tubulin Folding Cofactor (TBCD).
Kaylee and Jake remained optimistic that their daughter would still have a few years left.
Taking to TikTok, the mom explained: The average life span of kids that have a disorder like this is about three to five years.”
But after the diagnosis, Poppy seemed to experience breathing difficulties and she was also diagnosed with pneumonia.
Speaking to PEOPLE, Kaylee said: “After doing the most advanced genetic tests on the market, we got the most horrific news to find out that she had a genetic disorder that I think at the time, she was the 38th child in the world diagnosed with.”
Only six months after the diagnosis, Poppy died in the ICU.
Her parents decided to remember their daughter unconventionally by transforming her ashes into parting stones.
Sharing the moment they received the box, Kaylee said: “It felt so personal, and I remember opening that card and just feeling like these people cared about my daughter.”
The couple also explained on TikTok why they have decided to transform their daughter’s ashes into parting stones.
“It seemed very touchable and tangible, and having two other kids in our home, we never wanted to have something fearful of breaking,” Jake said.
“It feels like we retain the ability to hold her a little bit and keep her with us, and if we want to spread her ashes somewhere later in life, we can still do that.”
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