The "Glad You Came" singer, Tom Parker has had a devastating diagnosis. He and his wife are struggling to understand but will not give up without a fight. The Wanted star has a brain tumor.
The Wanted's Tom Parker Has Brain Tumour
32-year-old Tom Parker, of the uber-successful boyband, The Wanted, has just shared devastating news to fans. He and his longtime love and wife Kelsey Hardwick decided to give a single interview and a single social media post to explain to their fans the heartbreaking diagnosis and their plans.
Alongside a family portrait of Tom, his wife, and their daughter, he posted "There’s no easy way to say this but I’ve sadly been diagnosed with a Brain Tumour and I’m already undergoing treatment. We decided, after a lot of thought, that rather than hiding away and trying to keep it a secret, we would do one interview where we could lay out all the details and let everyone know the facts in our own way."
New dad Tom Parker told OK!, "I'm still in complete shock, it's so much to take in." He explained that had been experiencing strange seizures during quarantine and was ultimately told he had a "grade four glioblastoma" tumour in his brain. Tragically, this diagnosis usually means a life expectancy of anywhere from 3 to 18 months.
Tom said, "I knew something wasn't right, but I never expected it to be this. You never think this will happen to you." His beautiful wife Kelsey said, "We can't believe we're having this conversation... It still doesn't feel real. I don't think Tom will ever process his information. It's horrendous. Watching your partner go through this is so hard, because how can I tell him to not let it consume him?"
Tom Parker's Terminal Brain Tumour
Kelsey explained how they realized something was wrong after he had a sudden seizure causing a trip to the hospital, "At the time they sent him home. But he still didn't feel right, he felt like he was concussed, so he went back the following week and they put him on a waiting list to have an MRI before we weren't away - and while we were there he suffered another seizure, which was much worse. It was really bad and six weeks after the first one."
He ended up being hospitalized for 3 days until the doctors finally realized what it was. "They pulled the curtain around my bed and said, “It’s a brain tumour.” All I could think was, “F*****g hell!” I was in shock. It’s stage four glioblastoma and they’ve said its terminal. It was a lot to deal with by myself. I still haven’t processed it."
36-week pregnant Kelsey has somehow been the strong one in the relationship, "They rang me and told me over the phone. They said, 'It’s a tumour and it’s worst-case scenario.' They also told us it was inoperable and what the treatment would be. I was in a complete state. My friend Kelsey was with me and she just said, 'Don’t pass out'. It was like everything stopped. Obviously being told you have any tumour is bad, but to be told you have the worst one is a lot to take in. All I could think was, 'What’s going to happen and what is our life now?'"
Tom Parker's Fight and His The Wanted Bandmates
The "I Found You" singer has begun "back-to-back-chemotherapy and radiotherapy for six weeks, with the weekends off." Sweet Tom even joked, "Which is nice of them!"
He is even holding on to hope and has found someone who "was diagnosed 25 years ago and he's still with us. You just have to be really positive." His former bandmates from The Wanted have been supporting him and been a major comfort in this dreadful new life.
When they let his bandmates know of the diagnosis Tom said, "Obviously all the boys were as shocked as we were. They are gutted by the news, but they've been incredibly supportive. Jay has been round to see us a few times since we got the news and is reading up on everything he can and Max was here last week. Siva and Nathan obviously live a lot further away, but all four of the boys have been texting regularly and sending through different articles and possible treatments and therapies that they're all reading about.They’ve been so positive, but when I spoke to Max he was in bits. We were in bits together."
Max George is set to be competing on Strictly Come Dancing, he will actually be the second Wanted member to compete. Jay McGuiness actually won series 13 back in 2015. Tom said, "Max has a lot to live up to. Jay was wicked, but Max can turn it on. I think he'll be surprisingly good."
Tom and Kelsey gave the interview to bring awareness to the disease and encourage fundraising for The National Brain Appeal and the Immunotherapy charity, to support clinical trials and studies for Glioblastoma.
Our hearts break for Tom and his loved ones and we hope the best for the "Lightening" singer.
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