Kelsey Parker and Ashley Cain on embracing grief, guilt and love for Tom and baby Azaylia
30.03.2023 - 19:27
/ msn.com
Ashley Cain and Kelsey Parker have opened up on the importance of speaking about grief ahead of the release of a new MTV series. Footballer Ashley tragically lost his eight-month-old daughter Azaylia to leukaemia in April 2021, and has since dedicated his life to raising awareness about the disease, as well as raising funds for charity The Azaylia Foundation. Actress Kelsey was married to The Wanted star Tom Parker, with the pair having been together for 13 years and sharing two young children: Aurelia, three, and son Bodhi, two.
Tom died from a brain tumour on March 30, 2022 – and on his first anniversary came the launch of MTV Faces, a new series which sees Ashley speak to others affected by the loss of a loved one. In the first episode, Ashley speaks openly to Kelsey about grief, each sharing stories about the continued love they feel for their daughter and husband respectively, and why an honest conversation on grief is sorely needed in society. Metro.
co. uk sat down with both stars ahead of the launch of the series, with Ashley declaring he is ‘proud and happy’ to be a part of it. Life since Azaylia’s death is ‘not about seeking happiness for me,’ he says.
Rather, it’s about helping others, so ‘I can go to bed at night feeling happy with the person looking back at me in the mirror. ’‘For me, the grief doesn’t get any smaller. It stays like this.
It’s always there. I believe we grow around it. ‘I don’t think the guilt will ever go away, because I was never there to bring my daughter into the gates of heaven.
That’s something that will never go away. My sadness is something that will never go away. Am I healing? No.
Am I getting stronger? Yes. Am I ever going to miss her any less? No. Do I get stronger? Yes.