What dying can teach us about living well

Closer speaks to three brave women who say that facing a death sentence has showed them how to live the best life

Ex-emmerdale E star Leah Bracknell – who is battling incurable lung cancer – spoke out last week to say she believed her cancer diagnosis had empowered her.

While she admits she’s terrified of dying – leaving behind her husband Jez Hughes, 44, and daughters Lily, 25, and Maya, 21 – the 53-year-old had an inspiring message. “Let cancer become your reason to be everything you hoped you might be,” she wrote.

And opening up about her own terminal cancer diagnosis, singer and presenter Linda Nolan said, “I think when you are facing a future with cancer, you look back on your life and think, ‘Have I made the right decisions, have I done as much as I can do?’”

In her new memoir, Linda, 59 – who was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer in March 2017 – poignantly adds, “For years, I was so depressed I wanted to die... But now, facing the reality of death, I wanted to live more than I had ever wanted anything.”

Closer’s psychologist Emma Kenny says this sentiment is common among the terminally ill. She says, “There are five stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Acceptance is about making peace, a chance to make the most of the time left and live free from regrets. But we could all benefit from living this way rather than sweating the small stuff. You don’t have to do anything extreme. Even small things like ringing a friend once a week, or giving to charity, can ensure we don’t die with regrets.”

Here we speak to the women who, after receiving terrible news, are living life to the full...