The team here at Talent Management were very sad to hear Norwich model Kerri Parker’s brain tumour diagnosis last week.
Kerri, who runs her own modelling academy and Herbalife team, began modelling in 2003 and has appeared on numerous magazine covers and national newspapers all over the world. She has also had success in America with some small acting roles in Hollywood movies such as Batman The Dark Knight and has spent quite a bit of time with Hef and the girls at the Playboy Mansion.
The glamour model and entrepreneur was rushed to hospital recently after returning from Egypt with suspected meningitis, but by chance a neurologist at the Norfolk and Norwich University hospital discovered a 4cm brain tumour.
“I have been feeling unwell for about a year and have been getting worse and worse. When I got back from Egypt this week I had a really bad headache and was feeling sick. I couldn’t look at bright lights and on Tuesday, I ended up being rushed into A&E at the N&N where everyone thought it was meningitis,” She told the Eastern Daily Press.
“They did a CT scan which showed a mass but they thought that was something to do with the meningitis. They then did a lumbar puncture which came back saying it was meningitis.
“But then Will Brown, one of the neurologists on Dunston Ward, did something with my arm and picked up that it might be something else. They did an MRI scan and it came back showing it was a tumour.
“They took me into a room and told me I didn’t have meningitis, but that I did have a tumour. I had known something was wrong for a long time, which I think is why I haven’t cried yet.
“They say it’s a low grade astrocytoma. It’s on my frontal lobe and is 4cm in size, but the consultant said it would have got to the size of an orange before I’d have noticed any symptoms.
“He found it by chance and that might end up saving my life. I’ll be going to Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge for a biopsy and we are waiting for a letter about that.
“He said people often call him names when he tells them, or they deny it, but I just comforted my mum because she was devastated. What else can I do? I am just glad he found it.”
Kerri now faces an anxious wait for a biopsy at Addenbrooks in Cambridge to find out whether or not the tumour is cancerous.
The model was supposed to be celebrating her 30th birthday in Las Vegas but instead she rapidly organised a fund-raising ball at The Oaklands Hotel, Norwich to raise money for Cancer Research which took place last night.
The former City College student from Mattishall said: “I decided to organise something for my birthday which would also raise money for Cancer Research. I don’t know if the tumour is cancerous yet, but my nan died from cancer and I wanted to do something positive.
“We have had so many raffle prizes and support from local businesses. And I have had such lovely messages of support from my friends, including from the Playboy Mansion.
“There have been messages of support on Facebook from people telling me that I’m inspiring them by not letting this get me down.
“I am in a position where, thanks to all the entrepreneurial work I have done, I have got the financial security to get through this.
“I don’t know what sort of treatment I’m going to need or how long it will take, but I will keep fighting. The girls who have come up through the Model Academy have always seen me being strong and I need to keep strong to be a role model to them.”
If you would like to help Kerri raise money for Cancer Research UK you can do so here. We wish Kerri a speedy recovery and hope the scan at Addenbrooks will reveal a non-cancerous tumour.
