HomeBangladeshLinda Nolan's heartbreaking final column laid bare hidden agony of cancer

Linda Nolan’s heartbreaking final column laid bare hidden agony of cancer

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Linda Nolan brought a smile to her readers’ faces in her last Mirror newspaper column.

The Irish singer, actress and TV personality has sadly died at the age of 65, her family have announced, following a two-decade-long cancer journey. Linda first rose to fame in the 1970s as part of The Nolans, alongside her sisters, Anne, Coleen, Denise, Bernie and their mother, Maureen.

In 2005, Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer. She went into remission after a year, but sadly, it returned in 2017 and spread to her hip. In 2023, doctors found two tumours in her brain, and she was told the disease was incurable. Linda has been very candid and open about her treatment and documented her experience in her Mirror column. Just last week, she shared an update on her recent struggles.

Linda spoke about living with cancer, a disease that has also struck her sisters, Anne and Coleen, and taken the life of her sister Bernie. She shared how she finally felt on the mend after suffering from the flu over the festive period and lightheartedly revealed what new-found food combination tempted her to eat again.

The column, titled ‘I didn’t eat for 11 days over Christmas – I thought, ‘Oh my God, is this it?’, was published on December 8 and was Linda’s first piece in 2025. She wrote: “Chicken curry with pineapple, no mushrooms. I’d never have imagined that would be my first bite of 2025 – but there it is. Denise and Tom were ordering a Chinese on Sunday and suddenly that’s what I fancied.

“Pineapple in a curry. That was the foil container to finally tempt me out of my fast. My very own Chinese New Year. I hadn’t eaten for 11 days – what a Christmas! A complete wipeout. Everyone’s been so worried. The girls have been bringing me energy drinks and that’s all I’ve been able to get down. The doctors say it’s been a bad case of flu.

“I became so weak I’d walk a few steps and struggle to catch my breath. My legs were even more wobbly than usual and of course although I try not to, I immediately thought of how Bernie was at the end. You think, Oh my God, is this it?”

Linda continued: “On New Year’s Eve, Denise was so worried she got me checked out at the hospital and they gave me steroids on top of antibiotics. They sent me back home to rest and she was then reassured enough to go to Coleen’s New Year’s party as my friend Sue and her husband Graham came round to stay. I was asleep by 10.10pm – but that was pretty good going!

“I missed out on pizzas and babies – our new great nephews, Coleen’s son Jake’s boy and our brother Tommy’s new grandson. But for the first time in my life I wasn’t in the mood for cuddles.”

The Irish singer shared how grateful she was to finally be on the mend. She wrote: “It was only on Monday I felt well enough to venture out. It feels like a whole new world out there. There’s nothing like the sensation of starting to feel better after an illness. You’ve forgotten what it feels like to feel normal (well, I say normal…).

“We went round to our brother Brian’s for his wife Annie’s cakes and chat afternoon which has now become a monthly staple for us all. She bakes scones, and a cake – coffee and walnut this time. I told her no one likes a show off. I ate a whole half a scone. Jam and cream too. It was so good to get out and chat – or listen, rather, which I know sounds unlikely but I’m suffering from the worst dry mouth so gossiping’s restricted. I think that’s a chemo side-effect rather than the flu.”

Her final few sentences would have brought a smile to her loyal readers’ faces, as Linda finished: “Despite all the rubbish, I feel so grateful to be getting well again. I’ve never been keen on resolutions, but here’s one: it’ll take more than flu to finish me off. And pineapple in a curry? Here’s a second: I might try that again.”

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