WHEN my phone rang yesterday afternoon, I didn’t expect to hear the unimaginably tragic news that my pal Kelsey had lost her unborn child.
Just three years after losing the love of her life, Tom Parker, to brain cancer, I didn’t know how much more she could take – but what happened next was even more horrifying.
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Since Tom’s death, we’ve become friends as she’s helped me deal with my own pain after losing my partner.
I’ve watched her navigate grief so bravely, always prioritizing her two children, Aurelia, five, and Bodhi, four, as well as raising money for charity and helping other widows through their own pain.
I was thrilled when she told me her and new boyfriend Will Lindsay were expecting.
I wasn’t the only one – not only was Kelsey, Will and the kids excited but Tom’s family were so happy to add another grandchild to their family, too.
It seemed like she was getting the happy ending she so deserved.
But on Sunday, she revealed on Instagram the tragic death of her third baby who was “born sleeping”.
And even in that heartbreaking moment she was thinking of others having got a mutual pal to call me and delicately break the news to me ahead of time so I wasn’t blindsided by reading it online.
I’m left questioning how much heart ache can one person go through?
Kelsey and Tom, a singer with The Wanted, had dated for 13 years and she told me they were “soul mates” in every sense of the world.
To lose your husband is unimaginable but then to lose your child as well is incomprehensible.
Devastated Kelsey Parker announces tragic death of baby who was ‘born sleeping’ just a week before due date
She’s named her son Phoenix Parker-Lindsay, who died just one week before his due date.
Thankfully Kelsey has taken some time off from being online to grieve with the support of her loved ones.
And I’m relieved because there are already trolls gleefully commenting on her pain.
One has accused her of trying to “profit” from the situation – incorrectly as she has not been paid to share the news.
‘So lonely’
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Another added, “I hope she doesn’t milk it like she did [after] her husband’s death.”
In an era where we are always being told to “be kind” there is often little shown for her. Kelsey previously had to hit back at “sick” trolls who have accused her of “milking” spouse Tom’s death for money.
When she announced the news of the pregnancy alongside the well wishers there were plenty judging her for moving on too fast.
One commented: “I’m sorry but it can’t just be me who thinks Kelsey, Tom Parker’s widowed wife, is moving on way too fast.
“Tom hasn’t even been gone three years and yet she’s already got a new partner and is now pregnant? I understand we all grieve differently but this is weird to me.”
A second said: “Kelsey Parker [being] pregnant not even three years after Tom passing away makes me sick.”
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A third added: “She has been in such a rush since he died to find a new partner. I’m not sure a new baby is the answer to her problems.”
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous in February, she told me: “Everything now will always be bittersweet, even happy things because I’ll wish Tom was part of it.
“It was the same when I went public with Will, I kept thinking ‘I am afraid to be happy’. But I love children and Will always wanted children. I think any child is a blessing.
“And my two kids are so thrilled they are going to have a little brother or sister.
“People online don’t think about the joy it’s brought them. And should they not get to have a sibling because their dad died?
I was so lonely and so unhappy. I feel like there are people who want me to always feel like that
Kelsey Parker
“I knew I would be judged. But people who haven’t lost their partner, I don’t know how you can pass comment on me? I have been in such a dark place from losing Tom.
“I was so lonely and so unhappy. I feel like there are people who want me to always feel like that. I feel like I do deserve to try and find a bit of happiness.”
And now yet again Kelsey will be deprived of that happiness she so desires and after so much pain she should get it.
Kelsey named her son after the phoenix bird which symbolises immortality, resurrection and life after death.
It’s an apt name as a phoenix always rises from the ashes and that’s what I am sure Kelsey will do when the time is right.
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