Linda Nolan shared her heartbreaking wish just weeks before she died after a long battle with secondary breast cancer.
Linda, 65, rose to fame as part of The Nolan in the 1970s. She died surrounded by her sisters, with her final hours said to be full of “love and comfort”.
Just weeks before her death, Linda shared her heartbreaking Christmas wish. Speaking to Woman magazine, she said: “My Christmas wish is that I will be here to see everybody next year as well.”
She went on to say she hoped everyone would be “nicer to each other” in 2025. Linda said it “breaks her heart” to see conflicts when she switched on her television.
In a poignant column just a week before her death, Linda revealed she struggled to eat over Christmas. She wrote: I became so weak I’d walk a few steps and struggle to catch my breath.
Linda Nolan and Coleen Nolan -Credit: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Hearst
“My legs were even more wobbly than usual and of course although I try not to, I immediately thought of how Bernie (Nolan) was at the end. You think, Oh my God, is this it?”
However, doctors reassured Linda it was just a “bad case of the flu”. It meant Linda was able to spend New Year’s Eve with sister Coleen.
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Linda however was taken to hospital on Saturday after she began to suffer with breathing problems. Doctors diagnosed double pneumonia and because of her secondary breast cancer, which had spread to her brain, her condition sadly deteriorated.
At 3.30am on Tuesday, her sisters – Anne, 74, Denise, 72, Maureen, 69, and Coleen, 59 – were called to her bedside in hospital as doctors made the decision to put her on end-of-life care. The family maintained a vigil by her side.
Linda rose to fame as part of The Nolans. -Credit:Publicity Picture
In a statement released to the Mirror, Linda’s agent Dermot McNamara, said: “It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Linda Nolan, the celebrated Irish pop legend, television personality, Guinness World Record holding West End star, Sunday Times bestselling author and Daily Mirror columnist.
“She passed at around 10:20am at Blackpool Victoria Hospital on the MCEW Ward. The family said the hospital couldn’t do enough, they were tireless and made it so much more bearable.”
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The statement continued: “She passed peacefully, with her loving siblings by her bedside, ensuring she was embraced with love and comfort during her final moments. Linda’s legacy extends beyond her incredible achievements in music and entertainment. She was a beacon of hope and resilience, sharing her journey to raise awareness and inspire others. Rest in peace, Linda. You will be deeply missed, but never forgotten.”
Linda was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 and was given the all-clear in 2011. Six years later though, she was told the disease had returned after tumours were found in her hip bone and pelvis.
Just four years before, her sister Bernie died aged 52 in 2013. Like Bernie, Linda was also diagnosed with incurable secondary breast cancer but decided to make the most of the time she had left.
Linda decided to use her fame and sense of humour to help people going through similar situations, including her sister Anne, who was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in 2020 just days after Linda was told her cancer had spread to her liver.
The sisters went through chemotherapy together and while Anne went into remission, Linda’s cancer could only be slowed down and not cured. In 2023, she was told the cancer had spread to her brain.
Just days before Christmas, Linda admitted she was having her ups and downs and was scared it would be her last. “I try to stay positive,” she told The Mirror in December. “I’ll use jokes and humour as a way to cope, but of course it’s scary. And I have my days where I’m terribly down.”