Poppy fights for life with her chappy by her side

On a November afternoon in 2021, the world changed for Poppy and her family. She was hit by a car while waiting to be picked up after school. 

She suffered a traumatic brain injury, and part of her skull had to be removed by a team of neurosurgeons. On her third day in ICU, Poppy had a hemorrhagic stroke deep in the left side of her brain, recalls mum, Caroline, which has left her with ongoing complications that impact her daily life.

“We spent every moment at her bedside. We prayed, we spoke to her and held her hands and begged her to hold on and keep fighting. The waiting went on and on,” she says.

“In the days following the accident, our family was lost. We were in shock and told by the doctors that Poppy’s prognosis was poor. I couldn’t believe what was happening.”

In the middle of this traumatic experience, Poppy’s school chaplain, Leita, was journeying with the family.

“Chappy Leita arranged for people to pray for Poppy around the clock. She arranged frozen meals, hospital parking vouchers and care hampers. She was a never-ending source of support and positivity for our family,” says Caroline.

“Poppy was in a coma for 15 days. She slept through her 12th birthday, but now our resilient daughter is home and back at school for four days a week. She loves school and has made many friends in the school’s Student Diversity Centre (SDC) where strategies are in place to ensure her safety at school with her disabilities.”

For Poppy, she’s so grateful that her family had the support of a chaplain in the middle of so many unknowns. 

“I don’t remember the accident, and much from the months that followed, but Mum tells me Chappy Leita was a fantastic support to my family. Before the accident, I only really knew Chappy from a wellbeing program she ran at school. But after the accident, Mum was so grateful I’d been in that program – she said it was meant to be,” says Poppy.

“Chappy Leita is still part of our lives 18 months after the accident, and I feel very lucky to have her as my friend.”

As for Chappy Leita, she’s inspired by the infectious enthusiasm Poppy brings to every situation. But she still remembers the shock that rippled through their community directly after the accident.

“There were students who witnessed the accident, so it was a very traumatic time for our community. I was in a position to provide updates from the family to the school community, drop off meals to the family, and check in on them. It was an honour to be able to do that. I take my hat off to their family – they’ve been through so much,” says Chappy Leita.

During the wellbeing program Chappy Leita ran in the school, they looked at the attributes of value, strength and purpose. Little did they know, two days after the program ended, Poppy and her family would be forced to live out these principles.

“I told Poppy’s mum we wouldn’t stop praying until she woke up. It was a bold statement, and it took over two weeks for us to see that miracle happen,” says Chappy Leita.

“Poppy recently came and shared her story a.t our church, and she grabbed the microphone and said,  ‘I’m here and I’m alive!” and I said, “Church, this is your prayers in action.” Poppy has this boldness and faith now that she didn’t have before.”

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