11 June 2023 , 15:20
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Kelsey Parker has shared a heartbreaking photo of her late husband Tom in his football kit, a year after he tragically died from brain cancer.
The Wanted star lost his battle with the illness in March 2022, aged 33, leaving behind his children, Bodhi, two and Aurelia, three.
Kelsey, 33, has spoken candidly about her grief but is now channelling her energy into organising the Tom Parker Celebrity Football Match.
The event will raise money for the Ahead of the Game Foundation, in memory of The Wanted star.
Urging her followers to buy tickets, Kelsey captioned the photo of her husband: " Tom’s last shoot@bromleyfc. A week today we’ll be celebrating him & his love of football.
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"You can still get your tickets to join us. We are soooo close to 2,000 tickets and I’d love to get over that.Honestly when I first had this idea I thought if we sold over 500 it would be amazing but thanks to all of you we’ve totally smashed that and now I’m aiming higher!! (I mean if you get us over 2,000 I may be wanting 2500! Never satisfied [laughing emoji]).
"If you can’t join us in person on the day you can still buy a ticket in support as we’ll be streaming the match online as well. Link in my bio to get your tickets.
"The day isn’t just about football either! We’ll have superheroes, princesses, bouncy castles, face painting & more."
Fans flocked to Kelsey's message, with many saying they had bought tickets in honour of such a "wonderful man".
Tom and Kelsey spoke to the Mirror at the Pride of Britain Awards in 2021.
Praising the 'real heroes' of the night, Tom said: "Things like this always warm the heart. These people are beyond incredible and they’ve been through so much. It puts life into perspective. Sometimes the world can be full of darkness, but days like this and people like this bring such joy."
He continued: "Days like this put things into perspective. There's plenty of other people who've been through worse things than we've been through.
"We're here to celebrate them tonight. Live each day as if it's your last."
Kelsey marked the one year anniversary since her husband's death in March.
Speaking on ITV's Loose Women a month later, she admitted: "It's been so hard for me in March. I've had so much anxiety that was building up when we hit the first of March. I'm sort of happy now that April is here."
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