Real-life health: Linda Nolan
As she releases her autobiography, Linda Nolan talks about finding strength in the face of grief and her incurable cancer diagnosis
There’s one word Linda Nolan refuses to use when describing how she’s dealt with the toughest years of her life and that’s ‘brave’. It’s a word her sister Bernie hated using up until she tragically passed away of secondary breast cancer and which Linda (59) avoids now she’s also facing the same disease, as well as the grief of losing her sister and her husband Brian. “Bernie and I always used to say we’re not brave, you just have to get on with it as you have no choice.” Even before the Nolans first got together on stage, becoming one of the most successful family singing groups of all time, they’ve been incredibly close. “My husband used to call them the cavalry as it didn’t matter what was wrong, they’d come and put up this big Nolan wall around to protect you,” laughs Linda. “It’s a typically Celtic thing but our mum and dad taught us that while you’ll have great friends, family is the key.”
And in the past decade, the family have had to pull together like never before as they’ve faced one of the most difficult chapters of their lives.
“When Brian died in 2007, I lost the love of my life and I could barely take it an hour at a time but my family were amazing every step of the way, as were The Samaritans who I reached out to when I worried about being a burden on my family.” The family also rallied together when Linda was initially diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006, followed soon after by her sister Bernie, whose cancer sadly spread and took her life in 2013.
And it was in March last year, while still dealing with the grief of losing Bernie, that Linda discovered the breast cancer she thought she’d beaten had spread to her hip. She now has to have CT scans every three months to find out if the cancer has spread any further.
“I’ve decided I’m not going to spend the time between scans worrying because I’m wasting precious time. Bernie never gave up hope when she was ill and taught me to live each day as if it’s your last and spend time with people you love and tell them that. “People can live with secondary breast cancer for five, ten, 15 years so I’ve decided I’m just going to be a person who lives with cancer. Hopefully I’ll be able to love with cancer again and even work with cancer – I’m not going to let it define me.”
In fact, having launched her autobiography, Linda now has her sights set on hopefully returning to work in musical theatre and making the most of whatever her future will be, even though she knows there will still be days of grief and sadness. “I’ve realised life has to go on and is just so precious.”
■ From my Heart, by Linda Nolan, is out now, rrp £18.99