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Holly Carpenter opens up about her father’s private battle with cancer

Holly Carpenter has opened up about her father’s private battle with cancer.

The Former Miss Ireland’s dad Karl was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer, myelodysplastic syndrome, at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic last year.

Speaking to the Sunday World about her family’s personal battle for the first time, the Dublin native said: “When you hear the C word, everything else just disappears. I immediately went to the worst case scenario and thought, ‘is dad dying?'”

“He assured us that they had caught it early and it was going to be fine, but I think he was nervous to tell us too because he was afraid of scaring his kids.”

“We were told that it was a very rare form of cancer and the doctors told us that his immune system would be very low so he would be prone to catching colds, and then the next thing we knew we were in a pandemic.”

Holly with her father Karl and brother Ben

The 29-year-old recalled: “We couldn’t touch anything without using hand sanitiser and we had to wear masks. It was terrifying.”

“I had moved out at that point and he cocooned for the first lockdown. I’m so glad that he took it so seriously. I think in a way the pandemic forced him to take better care of himself than ever before.”

Holly’s parents Jane and Karl spent the rest of the pandemic at their home in France, with the Love Lift founder saying goodbye to them in June.

The former model said: “I said wouldn’t get emotional, but Christmas was hard. Not seeing my parents and my dad for this long is really hard.”

Holly had planned on visiting her parents over the festive season, but cancelled her plans after a surge in coronavirus cases.

“I don’t want to be a curtain twitcher but when I saw people flying to Dubai and going to cool parties and then just coming home… I have made so many sacrifices and you’re flying off on a sun holiday?”

Opening up about her decision to keep her father’s diagnosis private, Holly said: “The reason I didn’t share it online is because, while I am in the public eye, my parents and my brother’s business isn’t mine to share, and I felt like people were enduring so much.”

“Other people weren’t seeing their parents because they were in different countries or were high risk. I just felt like it wasn’t appropriate for me to come on and get upset, but in a way now I feel like I probably should have.”

“Now I think it’s the right time to talk about it because so many charities have been hit and this might encourage people to make a donation and really get behind Daffodil Day.”

“My dad is so lucky because he has my mum and a great doctor and I think of people who are going through treatment alone and it is heartbreaking.”

Sharing an update on her father’s health, Holly added: “Now he is stable, he has got medication and he is being monitored. It is just something he is always going to have to monitor, and thankfully he is coming back to himself.”

“When I was sitting around the Christmas table with my parents and brother in 2019, none of us could have anticipated what was going to happen. It really has put things into perspective and made me appreciate family time.”

“It has taught me to enjoy life at a slower pace. I think I was on autopilot and I realise now you can’t live at that mad pace. You also don’t have to focus on material things. I used to worry about what I was going to wear to different events and spend so much on clothes and now I think, why did I care so much?”

“I have kept something like this to myself for a year and it has made me realise not to judge other people because you don’t know what is going on in their lives. All I care about now is making my dad proud and hopefully making a tiny difference,” she added.

To support Daffodil Day, donate HERE.

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