Kelsey Parker shared an emotional message in memory of her stillborn son Phoenix alongside a photograph of her tattoo.
The podcaster, 34, shared the devastating news that her unborn baby Phoenix – her first child with her boyfriend Will Lindsay – was ‘born sleeping’ last month.
Kelsey, who is the widow of The Wanted star Tom Parker, took to Instagram on Thursday to share a post remembering Phoenix.
She re-shared a video of her getting her and Tom’s children’s names – Aurelia and Bodhi – tattooed on her arms back in March 2023, as well as a phoenix down her ribs.
Since losing her son, the mythical bird tattoo has taken on an added meaning for Kelsey as she wrote in a caption of her latest post: ‘My little Phoenix with me everyday.’
Kelsey originally got the tattoo in memory of her late husband Tom because she used to always send him ‘a quote about a Phoenix to encourage him to rise up’.
Kelsey Parker has revealed how she’s told her children she will never leave them following the death of her baby, three years after her husband Tom died from a brain tumor
Since losing her son, a mythical bird tattoo she got in 2023 has taken on an added meaning for Kelsey as she wrote in a caption of her latest post: ‘My little Phoenix with me everyday’
Kelsey also shared an added tribute to Phoenix as she posted a photograph of an orange sunset alongside the words: ‘I’m thinking of you, I see you, I miss you.’
Kelsey shares two children – Aurelia, six, and Bodhi, four – with her late husband Tom, who died from a brain tumour in March 2023.
She found love again with tree surgeon Will Lindsay, two years after Tom’s death, and she fell pregnant soon after, but their son Phoenix was stillborn at 39 weeks in June.
Kelsey recently told the Daily Mail how she explained Phoenix’s tragic death to her two older children.
She said: ‘Well I do think I’m a little bit of a pro now when it comes to grief. I just felt what was natural and I think your children lead you as well into where they want to go with the conversation around death.
‘So my daughter wants to talk about it all the time and Bodhi is more quiet, so I then take the lead and when they want to have a conversation, we talk about it, but I’m very open and I’m very honest.
‘I don’t use words like anyone’s gone to sleep, you know, they are dead and they’re not coming back. So I just try my best.’
She emotionally shared that her children are ‘so aware of death’ after losing their father and how important it was that they knew she was ‘not going anywhere’.
Taking to Instagram, Kelsey also shared an added tribute to Phoenix as she posted a photograph of an orange sunset alongside the words: ‘I’m thinking of you, I see you, I miss you’
Her husband Tom, who rose to fame in boy band The Wanted, tragically died from brain cancer in 2022, at the age of 33, four years after marrying Kelsey (they are pictured in 2021)
She found love again with tree surgeon Will Lindsay after Tom’s death, and she fell pregnant, but their son Phoenix was stillborn in June (they are pictured with Kelsey’s two kids)
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Kelsey Parker speaks out on losing her third child
‘Well, I actually sent my children back [to school] on the Monday after we lost Phoenix,’ she explained.
‘They went straight back to school because I think routine is so good for your children in loss, because the adults are grieving and they’re hearing a lot of words and a lot of talking.
‘And I think for them, normality and being in school is really good for them. And routine, I think well, not maybe school such, but routine. Like living their routine was good for them.
‘They needed to see me be there, I was doing the school pickup because they needed to know that I was okay and that I’m not going anywhere.
‘So I think that’s really important, especially after since they obviously lost Tom as well.’
She added: ‘They are so aware of death and loss, so I think it’s more the other children in the class that haven’t gone through it and my children are talking about death, but it’s making and going to make my children the strongest of adults.’
Her husband Tom tragically died from brain cancer in 2022, at the age of 33, four years after marrying Kelsey.
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