Boy band star has inoperable brain tumour at just 32
BOY band star Tom Parker has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour at the age of 32.
Parker, a member of The Wanted, says he is in ‘complete shock’ but has pledged to ‘fight this all the way’.
He is expecting his second child with wife Kelsey Hardwick.
The singer has begun treatment for a grade four glioblastoma – an aggressive cancer in the brain or spinal cord that usually occurs in older adults. Grade four is the most serious diagnosis.
‘There’s no easy way to say this but I’ve sadly been diagnosed with a brain tumour,’ Parker announced on Instagram alongside a picture with his wife and their daughter.
‘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.’
In the early 2010s The Wanted reached number one with the singles All Time Low and Glad You Came. His bandmate Jay McGuiness won Strictly Come Dancing in 2015.
He married Miss Hardwick in 2018. The couple have a 16month-old daughter, Aurelia, and are expecting their second child.
Parker spoke about the devastating diagnosis in an interview with OK! Magazine.
After a seizure in the summer he was taken to hospital for three days of tests. Because of coronavirus, his wife was not able to be with him when he was given the diagnosis.
‘They pulled the curtain around my bed and said, “It’s a brain tumour”,’ he said. ‘All I could think was, “******* hell!”. I was in shock. It was a lot to deal with by myself. I still haven’t processed it.’
His wife said they have decided not to find out his prognosis because he would ‘count down the days and not live his life’.
He is a week into six weeks of back-to-back chemotherapy and radiotherapy at King’s College
‘Alternative treatments’
Hospital in London. ‘ We are already exploring alternative treatments and looking at clinical trials here and abroad,’ he said. ‘There are so many stories of people who are still here five, ten, even 15 years later.’
Glioblastoma primarily affects adults aged between 45 and 75. The average survival time is 12 to 18 months. Only 5 per cent of patients survive more than five years, according to the Brain Tumour Charity.