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2014 image of Linda Nolan, who died on Wednesday aged 65 Alamy Stock Photo

Linda Nolan ‘laughing and joking’ in final days before she died, says sister Denise

Linda died on Wednesday morning surrounded by family after being admitted to hospital.

SINGER LINDA NOLAN was “laughing and joking” in her final days before she died aged 65, her sister Denise has said.

Linda, who rose to fame in family group The Nolans with sisters Coleen, Maureen, Bernie, Denise and Anne, died on Wednesday surrounded by family after being admitted to hospital in Blackpool with double pneumonia.

She had long been a campaigner and fundraiser for cancer awareness, having been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005.

The Dublin-born singer was given the all-clear in 2011, but in 2017 was told she had secondary breast cancer which later spread to her brain.

“She’d been laughing and joking, although the medical team had told her she had to stay quiet to let her treatment do its job,” her sister Denise said in a statement first reported in the Sunday Mirror.

“Everyone was being quietly optimistic as she’d seemed so cheerful.

“Then at 3.30am on Tuesday, we got the dreaded call: ‘Get to the hospital ASAP.’”

Linda’s manager Dermot McNamara confirmed she was admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital last weekend with double pneumonia, before going into a coma and having end-of-life care on Tuesday, and dying on Wednesday “with her loving siblings by her bedside”.

nolans The Nolan Sisters – Bernie, Anne, Denise, Maureen and Linda Nolan PA PA

Denise recalled how Linda was taken into the hospital after she was “struggling to breathe” but the singer was still the “model patient” and was “apologising for any inconvenience” to her sister and the hospital staff.

After Linda slipped into unconsciousness, Denise recalled that her sister still “wouldn’t give up” and friends and family sat holding her hand for 36 hours.

Denise recalled that she went home to give her husband Tom Anderson, who has Parkinson’s disease, medication, but her sister died before she could return to the hospital in time, although their other sisters had been by her side.

“At around 10.20am we got the worst news – our beautiful, brave, hard-working, talented sister was gone,” Denise said.

“We’re numb. My husband Tom can’t speak about her without crying. We’ll love and miss her for ever.”

Denise said she had experienced the grief before when their sister Bernie died of breast cancer in 2013 aged 52, but Linda’s death had been particularly difficult for her as they lived together, and “everywhere there are reminders”.

Linda wrote a column for the Mirror about her experience of living with cancer and in an addition published on 8 January she said she was “so grateful to be getting well again” after having a “bad case of flu” around Christmas.

Her other sisters have expressed how they are “heartbroken” following her death earlier this week.

Maureen wrote on Instagram on Thursday: “So much to say not sure where or if I can start, countless memories, countless laughs, and constant support when you really needed it, I am heartbroken as we all are, just so sad.”

Her sisters Coleen and Anne also reflected on Linda’s positive personality and good humour as they paid tribute on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Blackpool tower was lit up in pink, which is the colour mainly associated with breast cancer awareness, in memory of Linda.

Several of the Nolan family members have had cancer including Anne.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time in 2020 and is now cancer-free.

Coleen was diagnosed with skin cancer last year and said she was using a chemotherapy cream to remove it.

The Nolans, known for recording the songs Gotta Pull Myself Together, Attention To Me and I’m In The Mood For Dancing, toured with Frank Sinatra and made their own BBC TV specials.

Linda left in 1983, and she later re-joined to do several comeback performances with the group.

Outside of her showbiz career which included stints on Celebrity Big Brother along with musical theatre performances, she helped to raise more than £20 million (€23.6m) for numerous charities, including Breast Cancer Now, the Irish Cancer Society and Samaritans.

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