Tom Parker’s widow Kelsey says she ‘felt guilt’ after leaving her terminally ill late husband to give birth

Tom Parker’s widow Kelsey has shared that she “felt guilt” having to leave Tom for half an hour to give birth to their son Bodhi.

Tom passed away in March 2022 from stage four glioblastoma brain cancer at age 33, just a year and a half after his diagnosis.

He rose to fame as a member of the band The Wanted and shared two children with Kelsey, Aurelia (three) and Bodhi (22-months).

His widow Kelsey spoke to Giovanna Fletcher on her podcast ‘Happy Mum, Happy Baby’ about her experiences with son Bodhi’s birth in October 2020.

Kelsey shared with the podcast host that she had a “great pregnancy’”until her late husband’s mood began changing when she was 30 weeks pregnant.

She explained that everything seemed normal until Tom experienced a “massive seizure” when she was 35 weeks pregnant.

The acting teacher told Fletcher that following the seizure, her husband was then diagnosed with a brain tumour.

She said that she felt “really sorry for Bodhi” because she “wasn’t there” for the rest of the pregnancy and the focus shifted to her husband.

Kelsey, who had planned a homebirth to reduce risk to her medically vulnerable husband, shared how she went into labour just three weeks after finding out Tom’s diagnosis.

Kelsey said: “He kicked his own waters because I stopped eating, I stopped doing everything really for myself, cause obviously you’re so stressed and for me I’m not an eater in situations. I don’t eat”

The actress revealed that her husband had only been doing treatment for a week before she went into labour.

Kelsey said she “held out” from going to the hospital for as long as possible because she was worried about going into hospital because of her husband’s health.

In the hour-long podcast episode, Kelsey shared her birthing experience for their second child, saying: “It was awful because Tom was so emotional, obviously Tom was emotional for different reasons this time.

“He was thinking ‘’How long will I have left with this baby?’’. Oh God, that’s quite sad.”

“It was really hard and I remember him going to the toilet and the nurse being like: ‘’Is he okay?’’ And I was like: ‘’He’s got he’s got a brain tumour, he’s just been diagnosed and he’s in treatment at the moment, that’s why.’’

“He was really thin as well and he had lost his hair and obviously this was just way too much for him.”

Kelsey explained that the experience seemed “like a blur” and admitted she felt guilt for her son “that he didn’t get the nice experience for all of it” as her husband went back to treatment the day after he was born.

Kelsey said:“I think one day he’ll be like ‘’I’m just happy that my dad witnessed my birth’’.

The actress also shared how she felt guilty for having to leave her husband to go and give birth.

She said: “I just felt sorry for Tom and you know what, because Tom was in this place where he absolutely just was not Tom anymore - like literally I can’t describe it.

“The moment he got diagnosed, I lost Tom. I felt guilt when I was giving birth because I had to leave him for a half hour to actually give birth’.

“I wasn’t there for him, I wasn’t there for Tom, I couldn’t look after him for a half hour.

“And I just had this massive guilt and I’m like ‘’I’m giving birth to our baby, I shouldn’t feel like that but I did,’’ and I obviously never told Tom that because I wouldn’t want him to feel that way.”

Following the release of the podcast, host Giovanna Fletcher shared a clip on her Instagram.

Giovanna said: “We both wanted this conversation to be a celebration of her life with Tom and the family they created together, whilst also being honest about the heartache of the last two years.

“It’s a deeply moving and emotional chat about love, loss, grief, life and all of its unpredictability.

“ I can’t thank Kelsey enough for trusting me with her heart and words.”