In a candid post on Instagram, 32-year-old Tom Parker, of the boyband The Wanted, revealed that he has an inoperable tumour in his brain. The tumour has been proven to be cancerous and his illness terminal. However, the spunky Lancashire-born singer is not letting his diagnosis get the better of him.
“We are all absolutely devastated but we are gonna fight this all the way. We don’t want your sadness, we just want love and positivity and together we will raise awareness of this terrible disease and look for all available treatment options. It’s gonna be a tough battle but with everyone’s love and support we are going to beat this.”
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Speaking to OK! Magazine, Parker – who is understandably “in complete shock” – shared how unexplained seizures lead to him getting tested for their possible causes. After initially suffering what the couple though could have been a seizure in July, Parker went to the doctor only to be sent home. However, after not feeling right and feeling as if he were concussed, Parker took got an MRI done. Sometime later, while they were on holiday in Norwich, Parker suffered a worse seizure and had to be hospitalised for three days. Doctors then confirmed that it was a tumour. A tearful Parker shared,
“They pulled the curtain around my bed and said, ‘It’s a brain tumour.’ All I could think was, ‘F****** hell!’ I was in shock. It’s stage four glioblastoma and they’ve said it’s terminal.”
Unfortunately, doctors range the life expectancy for those who have grade four glioblastoma at being from between three to 18 months after diagnosis. Glioblastoma is the most common type of brain tumour that starts in the brain and it is also the most aggressive form of adult brain tumour. Parker is being treated at King’s College Hospital in London and is presently receiving radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment.
Following his stint with The Wanted, Parker kept busy as Danny Zuko in a touring production of Grease and also made it to the semi-finals of Celebrity Masterchef. He also recently married actress Kelsey Hardwick in 2018, after the duo fell in “love at first sight” upon meeting. The couple has a 16-month-old daughter, Aurelia, and are expecting their second child, a baby boy, in November.
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The Wanted initially debuted in 2010 under Universal Music and were managed by Scooter Braun (who also manages Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato and even Usher). The British-Irish boyband consisted of Tom Parker, Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness and Nathan Sykes. Hits like ‘All Time Low’, ‘Heart Vacancy’ and ‘Lose My Mind’ charted from their first self-titled album peaked at number four in the UK and has since been certified Platinum there. ‘Glad You Came’ from their next album titled ‘Battleground’ became an anthem for the year 2011 while ‘Walks Like Rihanna’ from their third album, ‘Word of Mouth’ was played around the world for weeks on end. However, in 2014, the band announced that they would be temporarily going their separate ways in order to pursue individual projects. At the time of the split, Parker told OK! Magazine:
“I didn’t want the band to split, it was my life for six years. We were happiest when we were on stage, it was all the s*** that went on with politics, the record label and too many opinions, which caused friction.”
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His wife Kelsey revealed that the former bandmates had rallied around Parker, giving him their support in this tough time. She shared that Jay McGuinness and Max George have been visiting the couple over the past few weeks.
“Siva [Kaneswaran] and Nathan [Sykes] 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 amazing.”
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