Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
My cancer nightmares were true
Carolann’s terrifying dreams saved her life
SAVED In hospital for her surgery
A WOMAN prompted to see a doctor by nightmares of having cancer was told she really did have the disease.
Carolann Bruce, 51, started having the bad dreams in 2011.
In November that year, she woke to find a lump in her breast.
A mammogram was negative. But Carolann, married to Jarod
Plant, 51, said her dreams were so vivid, she insisted on more tests.
A further scan and biopsy revealed stage 2 breast cancer.
Carolann, from Stockport, Gtr Manchester, said: “These dreams were just the scariest... I had a dark shadow man who would visit me on a daily basis.
“I’d think I was awake and he would take over my body. It was absolutely terrifying. I wanted to stay up all night. One night I had the most terrifying nightmare yet.”
The mum to Ryan and Jenna went on: “In the dream, I was taken to a hospital I’d never been to before and I saw myself – I was a dying patient. HAIR LOSS Carolann
“I felt so helpless... I kept dying over and over.” Carolann, who has been healthy since chemotherapy and a mastectomy, and has written a book about her experiences, added: “I never had a dream after I was diagnosed. The dreams, the dark man, they all vanished.”
MASKED Singer winner Nicola Roberts was so pleased to be asked to judge the final of this year’s show that she joked about starring again.
The ex-girls Aloud star, Queen Bee in the 2020 contest, reveals: “I was so excited I said, ‘Do you have a spare costume as I honestly don’t mind throwing it on.’
“I had such a happy experience on the show. I was so jealous that I was only there for the final this time as the rest of the judges were there the whole season.” And, ahead of tomorrow’s final, Nicola, 35, had a hint about one of the faces behind remaining contestants Badger, Robin and Sausage.
She says she was a childhood fan of one of the trio and adds: “I knew instantly who it was. I was just freaking out that they were on the show.” Having now seen the ITV series from both sides of the panel, Nicola also has a word of advice for fellow judges Rita Ora, Jonathan Ross, Davina Mccall and Mo Gilligan: Some clues aren’t always what they seem. She explains: “The judges would go, ‘Oh but last week they said this and the week before they said that’. And I said, ‘Yes, but they lie!’
“The panel would take every clue as gospel and I knew that there were so many red herrings.”
Nicola is backing Badger to win tomorrow. She says: “I absolutely love him. His voice is brilliant and he’s very cute.”
Knowing the show inside out, Nicola was able to work out who some of the earlier stars were.
She says: “I guessed Sophie Ellis-bextor immediately. There’s no mistaking her voice. Gabrielle too. But I could not for the life of me get Sue Perkins as Dragon.”
Last week Sue admitted she was nervous when her identity was revealed. And Nicola knows that feeling. She says: “The costume gives you confidence.
“You have this anonymity and it’s like this bubble around you that is so safe and unbreakable.”
Surprisingly, there have been no leaks about the singers’ identities.
Nicola says it’s all because of the high security back stage.
When she took part she had to wear a balaclava, hoodie, gloves and a visor so no part of her body was visible.
She says: “You’re kept in your dressing room and a guard takes you from there to the set.”
Nicola has been busy writing songs during lockdown and hopes she can pick up plans to star in West End musical City Of Angels when restrictions ease.
But she says there are no plans for a Girls Aloud reunion.
However, they are still the best of pals and speak regularly.
She adds: “We’re all really close. We are closer than ever. Thank God for technology.”
The Masked Singer, tomorrow, 7pm, ITV.
QUEUING for food in sub-zero temperatures, this street scene looks more like something from behind the old Iron Curtain instead of 21st-century Britain.
The alarming picture shows more than 200 homeless people waiting at a soup kitchen in Glasgow on Monday.
And charities fear things will get much worse when lockdown ends, despite hopes the emergency measures would stem the crisis. Soup kitchens are now facing unprecedented demand for handouts.
The donated food packs being given out by the Kindness Homeless Street Team charity in Glasgow, where temperatures plummeted to –14C, became coated in snow.
There were similar scenes in London days before when the Mirror spent hours talking to rough sleepers at the capital’s busiest street kitchen. While local authorities have been praised for bringing vulnerable people into shelter during the pandemic, charities fear a surge of rough sleepers in a few months’ time. The end of the Government’s eviction ban, combined with an expected wave of redundancies and no uplift in Universal Credit, will not help. Glasgow volunteer Graeme Weir said: “This isn’t some Eastern European country that’s been decimated by years of communist rule. This is Glasgow city centre in the 21st century where people are waiting in line to be fed. This makes me so angry. It has to end.
“I know some personally and most are good people who have hit a ‘wee bump in the road’. We as a civilised and caring nation need to step up.”
Jim Deans, who manages Sussex Homeless Support in Brighton, said 1,000 homeless people are in often unsuitable emergency accommodation in his area.
As well as distributing meals, his charity got microwaves for rough
sleepers put into unfurnished rooms when the first lockdown began.
Jim said: “The number of people I feed on a Sunday has trebled since then. There are tens of thousands of people facing eviction who cannot be evicted now because of Covid-19. They are mostly with private landlords who will have no option but to evict unless the Government picks up the rent arrears. We have created the perfect storm. I don’t think we will be able to handle what comes at us.”
All homelessness charities agree coronavirus has shown what can be done by treating the issue as a
Mirror report on the crisis, February 2019