Tragic way The Wanted’s Tom learned of terminal cancer before refusing prognosis

The Wanted's Tom Parker should be busy preparing to become a dad for a second time, with his baby son due in just a matter of weeks.

But instead, the singer has been dealt the cruelest of hands and is now facing months of gruelling treatment in the hope of prolonging this life.

Aged just 32, Tom has been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour and is undergoing a intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy in a bid to shrink the mass and give him more time with his beloved family.

All while his heavily-pregnant wife Kelsey, 30, is just four weeks away from her due date.

The first sign of trouble surfaced in July when Tom thought he'd suffered a seizure. He told OK! magazine that he'd been alone at the time so wasn't sure.

He had a sore back and a mark on his head and felt like he was concussed, and a second trip to A&E saw him placed on the waiting list for an MRI scan.

In the meantime, Tom, Kelsey and their 15 month old daughter Aurelia headed off on holiday in Norwich but while there, he suffered a second seizure and was given an immediate MRI.

After four days of tests, Tom received the news he never imagined he'd hear, and because of Covid, he had to face it alone.

He had stage four glioblastoma - an aggressive form of brain cancer - and it was terminal.

Tom told the magazine: "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 was a lot to deal with by myself. I still haven’t processed it."

Kelsey added: "It was horrendous. 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 is now being treated at Kings College Hospital in London, where he is undergoing back-to-back radiotherapy and chemotherapy for six weeks in the hope of controlling the disease.

After that, there may be a month-long break followed by six months of chemotherapy.

Heartbreakingly, the condition has an average life expectancy of three months to 18 months from diagnosis.

However, Kelsey told Tom's brother - who went in her place to the hospital - not to let the doctors tell him how long he had left because he would 'count down the days and not live his life'.

On top of that, the couple have been in touch with numerous people who were given just months to live but are still alive five years later.

Asked if he has contemplated having to leave his children, brave Tom vowed: "No, because I’m going to be here, I’m going to fight this... There are so many stories of people who were given a bad prognosis and are still here five,10, even 15 years later. We’re going to fight this all the way."

Before going public, Tom shared the heartbreaking news with friends, family and his Wanted bandmates, who Tom said have been texting their support.

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