Tom Parker’s fans incredibly raise £59,000 in his memory before funeral after The Wanted singer’s death aged 33

Tom Parker’s fans have raised a staggering £59,000 since The Wanted singer’s death at the age of 33. 

following a highly-publicised 17-month battle with brain . 

On Wednesday, hundreds of outside a church in south-east having been invited to watch on large screens outside by his widow Kelsey Parker. 

Kelsey launched in lieu of flowers and gifts shortly after Parker’s death in order to raise money towards charities. 

‘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 wrote. 

As donations continued to pour in on the day of Parker’s funeral, the GoFundMe total stood at just over £59k. More than 3,700 people have contributed to the fundraiser so far. 

Parker’s The Wanted bandmates were seen carrying his casket into the funeral service, which was held at St Francis of Assisi church. Max George, Nathan Sykes, Jay McGuiness and Siva Kaneswaran looked solemn as they arrived at the church and acted as pallbearers. 

Former One Direction singer Liam Payne arrived at the funeral alone dressed in a black suit, while Parker’s widow Kelsey wiped away tears as she watched her late husband’s coffin being carried into the church. 

Inside the private service, Max delivered a eulogy and shared fond memories of his bandmate’s love for music and the ‘punch-ups’ they had over the years, while a pre-recorded message from Kelsey was also played. 

In October 2020, Parker announced that he had been diagnosed with stage four glioblastoma and had begun radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The musician spent the remainder of his life raising awareness of brain tumours and money for research to fight them.

Glioblastoma is a grade four brain tumour. It is an aggressive type of cancer that forms from cells called astrocytes that support nerve cells and can occur in the brain or spinal cord.

Following Parker’s diagnosis, he underwent 30 rounds of chemotherapy and 30 radiotherapy sessions, as well as physiotherapy to rebuild the strength in his left side after the tumour caused it to weaken. 

In February, he to receive treatment for his tumour. He managed to join The Wanted’s UK tour but died just two weeks later.