FAMILY ON THE
EXCLUSIVE BY
EMMA PRYER
GRIEVING parents today tell how singer Tom Parker helped their girl through her darkest days as they both battled a terminal brain tumour.
Amani Liaquat, 23, and The Wanted star Tom, 33, bonded through their shared ordeal with the disease.
His texts and voice messages were a source of positivity and it was clear she drew strength from their friendship.
One, last November, said: “I don’t understand. Why do you think you’re dying? You’re not dying. We’re not dying. We are young. We are fit enough.”
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Others lifted her spirits as upbeat Tom declared: “I know it’s scary but you’re going to be fine... you’ve got this!”
Tragically, both succumbed to the disease. Amani, a first class honours law graduate who was engaged to be married, died on February 21 – her sister Ruqayyah’s 21st birthday.
Dad-of-two Tom died last Wednesday – and Amani’s parents said it felt like losing another member of the family.
Her dad Khuram Liaquat and mother Yasmin Stannard – who also have 16-year-old daughter Maleehah, 16 – speak movingly about their beloved daughter and her bond with Tom.
They met when the singer was doing a TV documentary on his illness – Tom Parker: Inside My Head.
The Bolton-born star visited Amani and was interviewed for her podcast Chat2Amani.
Khuram, 49, of Luton, Beds, says: “Their journey, the stories of seizures and so on were almost identical so they clicked straight away. To have him keep in touch, to have almost this lifeline from Tom, gave Amani some hope and excitement.
“She was a trapped soul, completely isolated because she couldn’t go out during the pandemic when she was sick. Tom was one of the few people battling the same disease she met in person. Their exchanges turned into almost a little conversation piece.
“She could say, ‘Oh, me and Tom are friends’. It gave her so much joy in her last year.”
In September, Amani saw Tom and his band perform at London’s Royal Albert Hall – rattling off hits like Chasing The Sun and, fittingly, Glad You Came.
Anxious Amani faced more trauma over the next month but Tom was again there to support her.
Yasmin, also 49, says: “She texted Tom a day before brain surgery. His voice note said: ‘I’d be s***ting it! But you’ll be fine. I’m sure of it’.
“He also texted to say: ‘Think of it like this, you could be in a position where they couldn’t do anything. You’ve got this!’ That really helped her.”
On the day Amani died, Tom posted on Instagram: “My thoughts and love are with her family. She was an incredible young lady. Bright, smart, funny and I had the greatest pleasure to meet her.”
He later sent Amani’s family a ceramic angel in a box, a candle inscribed ‘In loving memory’, a packet of Forget-MeNot seeds and a silver picture frame. “We