Tom Parker’s wife Kelsey has expressed her gratitude after donations have poured in following her husband’s death this week.
The Wanted star died peacefully on March 30, surrounded by his family and bandmates, after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in 2020.
Just hours after Tom’s death was announced, thousands of pounds had already been donated to a fundraiser set up by Kelsey.
Kelsey created the GoFundMe page on Saturday for people to ‘keep Tom’s memory alive forever’ via donations to charitable causes, instead of sending flowers and cards.
She included a touching thank you message to those who shared ‘beautiful messages of hope and condolence’ since the singer’s death at age 33, and said the fundraiser aims to ‘take everyone’s incredible love, support and generosity and turn our grief into something positive.’
The page exceeded its £5,000 target within the first 12 hours, with more than £10,000 raised so far.
Writing on the fundraising page, Kelsey said: ‘I am Kelsey Parker, very proud wife of Tom Parker, probably best known for being one fifth of UK boyband The Wanted, but to those who knew him he was my husband, a Daddy, son, brother and friend.
‘Our hearts are truly broken, Tom was the centre of our world and we can’t imagine life without him, but one of the biggest sources of comfort over the last two years has been the outpouring of love and support we’ve all received.’
She continued: ‘We can’t thank everyone enough for holding Tom, myself and the children in your thoughts and prayers, for lighting candles and sharing beautiful messages of hope and condolence.
‘We want to take everyone’s incredible love, support and generosity and turn our grief into something positive and to keep Tom’s memory alive forever.’
Kelsey added that ‘all proceeds will eventually go to amazing causes in Tom’s name, to help others in need.’
‘We simply couldn’t have got through the last two years without the help and support we have received and if we can offer it back to others that would be the best way to honour Tom and make our two children, Aurelia and Bodhi proud.’
She concluded with a poignant statement: ‘If love alone could have saved Tom, he would have lived forever.’
The Glad You Came musician was diagnosed with a tumour in October 2022 and leaves behind two young children.
He married Kelsey in 2018 and welcomed their son, Bodhi, in October last year.
Their daughter, Aurelia Rose, was born in 2019.
Tributes have poured in for the star, with his fellow Wanted singers – Max George, Nathan Sykes, Siva Kansewaran and Jay McGuiness – left ‘heartbroken’ at their loss.
Tom’s fundraiser can be found here.
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