Parents 'touched' by school's memorial to daughter

Parents 'touched' by school's memorial to daughter

Shariqua Ahmed

Mon, December 1, 2025 at 6:40 AM UTC

2 min read

Poppi in a hospital bed cuddling a large teddy bear. She is wearing red pyjamas with a white pattern and is smiling. She has lost her hair because of her treatment. There is a medical machine and a chest of drawers next to the bed. — Poppi's schoolfriends described her as "kind and funny" [Ian and Sam Frisby]

The mother of a 12-year-old girl who died of a rare cancer says she has been "touched" by a memorial created by her schoolfriends.

Poppi Frisby, from Peterborough, was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a form of bone cancer, in 2022 and died in February 2024.

She went to the city's Jack Hunt School, where friends have created a display of clay poppies in a remembrance garden.

Her classmates described Poppi as kind and funny with "a heart of gold" and said they were pleased the school had suggested the memorial.

One of the pupils said "there was always a good vibe when she was in the room".

Poppi's friends, four girls in black and white school uniform and a boy, also in uniform, standing in front of an orange wooden memorial with clay poppies. The memorial is in a garden. It is surrounded by school buildings. — Poppi's friends at Jack Hunt School said it was special to make the memorial in her honour [Shariqua Ahmed/BBC]

Her parents, Ian and Sam, both described Poppi as a "bubbly character", adding that her diagnosis had been "devastating".

"Seeing her friends helps us too," Sam said, adding that the memorial had made them "emotional".

Sam said Poppi's treatment had been "unbelievably hard", but they had tried to "build memories" as a family.

"She went through it all smiling and making people laugh."

Poppi was treated at Addenbrooke's Hospital and spent the last three weeks of her life at a hospice run by East Anglia's Children's Hospices in Milton, Cambridgeshire.

Ian, a man wearing a black zipped jacket and Sam, a woman wearing a yellow top and a black coat, smiling for camera. — Poppi's parents, Ian and Sam, said they thought about their daughter every day [Shariqua Ahmed/BBC]

Ian and Sam praised the hospice where "they took such care of us and Poppi",

But they said there should be more support for families grieving such a loss. They urged others to "take a day as it comes".

"You just hold on to memories and try and stay strong as a family," Ian said.

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Parents 'touched' by school's memorial to daughter

Parents 'touched' by school's memorial to daughter

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