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Tom Parker, one of the members of the British and Irish boy band The Wanted has revealed he has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor at the age of 32.
The singer, who is currently expecting his second child with wife Kelsey, has spoken of his heartbreak at the terminal diagnosis.
Parker was told he had a stage 4 glioblastoma six weeks ago and has said he is "still in shock" in a devastating Instagram post.
"There's no easy way to say this but I've sadly been diagnosed with a Brain Tumour and I'm already undergoing treatment. We decided, after a lot of thought, that rather than hiding away and trying to keep it a secret, we would do one interview where we could lay out all the details and let everyone know the facts in our own way," he wrote.
Parker—who is known for the hits "Chasing The Sun" and "Glad You Came" with The Wanted—said he and his family are "absolutely devastated" but determined to "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," he added. "It's gonna be a tough battle but with everyone's love and support we are going to beat this."
The couple are parents to toddler Aurelia.
Parker further explained his situation in an interview with OK! Magazine, where he spoke about his glioblastoma, which is an aggressive cancer that can occur in the brain or spinal cord. The average life expectancy following initial diagnosis ranges from three to 18 months, per the Brain Tumour Research charity.
The performer was diagnosed after he experienced a number of unexplained seizures.
"It's stage four glioblastoma and they've said its terminal. It was a lot to deal with by myself. I still haven't processed it," he told the magazine.
Parker went on to say he and his wife have started looking at alternative treatments.
"I need everyone's love and positivity," he said. "I am going to fight this. We are already exploring alternative treatments and looking at clinical trials both here and abroad, and our friends have been doing research.
"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."
Parker said his bandmates from The Wanted have been "incredibly supportive."
"They are gutted by the news, but they've been incredibly supportive," he said. "Jay [McGuiness] has been round to see us a few times since we got the news and is reading up on everything he can and Max [George] was here last week. Siv [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."
