Holly Carpenter ‘emotional’ as dad with ‘rare blood cancer’ suffers health scare

The former Miss Ireland’s dad Karl was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer, myelodysplastic syndrome, shortly before the Covid pandemic.

Last week, he was admitted to hospital with an infection, so Holly skipped the Tattler Woman of the Year Awards on Saturday and spent time with her mum instead.

In an Instagram Q&A, the 31-year-old told her followers that there was “lots going on with general life, family stuff etc” as she explained why she was absent from the event.

“I was supposed to go to the Tattler Woman of the Year Awards on Saturday, so I had a few messages from people asking me why I wasn’t there,” she began.

“I just went and had a sleepover with my mum because when things like this are going on, I’ve always loved family time but it definitely makes you appreciate it a lot more.”

Captioning the video, she wrote: “I’m v emotional today sorry”.

Holly then shared why her dad was in hospital as she gave an update on his condition and thanked her followers for their kind messages of support.

She said: “People were asking what’s wrong with him – so, a couple of years ago, he was diagnosed with a really rare form of blood cancer and the reason he was in hospital just there was because he got an infection.

“Obviously, because he’s not well at the moment, his immune system’s not great. So, something like a small cold or flu could be quite serious.

“He went in and spent five days on an IV drip and thankfully he got out yesterday and he’s feeling so much better.

“Thank you so much to the amount of people who messaged me about my dad. It was actually so nice to get so many sweet, caring messages from people so I really appreciated that.”

Holly then linked a previous Sunday World article in which she detailed her dad’s illness and opened up about becoming an ambassador for Daffodil Day to raise funds for the Irish Cancer Society.

“I actually joined up with Daffodil Day a couple of years ago and I chatted with them about my dad’s whole story.

“If you’re interested and are in a position to donate to the Irish Cancer Society, that would be brilliant because unfortunately it is something that touches so many people’s lives, so many families.

“It’s easier for me to share the link than tell the whole story and get upset.”