Entertainment
Stand Up To Cancer viewers sob as Tom Parker details being alone when he found out he had a brain tumour
Tom Parker detailed his battle with a glioblastoma brain tumour (Picture: Stand Up To Cancer)
Viewers of Stand Up To Cancer were left in tears watching The Wanted’s Tom Parker detail his brain tumour battle and how he was alone when he found out he had cancer.
During the fundraiser, clips were shown from his documentary Tom Parker: In My Head, in which he revealed he had found out about his cancer during a family trip to Norfolk.
Tom had had a seizure during the trip but had to go to hospital on his own as it was during the coronavirus pandemic.
It was there that he was told he had cancer, having to face the news on his own and struggling to believe he had a brain tumour at just 32 years old.
Tom and The Wanted appeared live on the show to discuss his journey so far, with Tom telling host Davina McCall he was doing ‘as well as someone with cancer can be, to be honest.’
Speaking about how he got through the past year and the advice he’d give to others in the same situation, Tom told her: ‘I’ve still got a life to live, I’ve got a wife and kids and [The Wanted] boys.
Tom was seen breaking down in the clip (Picture: Channel 4)
‘I think you’ve just got to have a positive mindset. Cancer can consume you very quickly and easily and it’s not the physical side of things, it’s the mental side.’
He admitted that he had ended up in a dark place after his diagnosis where he struggled to get out of bed as he was just thinking he would die from his glioblastoma brain tumour.
Tom worked hard to regain the mobility in his left side, which has been affected by the tumour, using his family as motivation to get well again, adding: ‘I’ve got a wife and two kids under two. You’ve got to pick yourself up and get on with it.’
Viewers were overcome with emotion at Tom’s story, tweeting: ‘Stand up to cancer stories are obviously always hard to hear, but having grown up with Tom Parker from The Wanted in the public eye means we “knew” him before the diagnosis and shows that cancer is just so indiscriminate.’
More: Channel 4
Others added: ‘Tom’s Cancer journey is so heartbreaking and he’s so strong. An absolute inspiration’ and ‘I feel like this Tom Parker segment is going to have me crying again.’
Stand Up To Cancer airs tonight on Channel 4 from 7.30pm, and donations can be made at channel4.com/su2c with 100% of your donation going to Cancer Research UK in support of the Stand Up To Cancer campaign.
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