Coleen Nolan shares sister Linda’s final words to her before tragic death

Beloved TV personality and pop star Linda Nolan died last Wednesday, aged 65, after a five-year fight with secondary breast cancer.

The Daily Mirror Columnist has passed away with her famous sisters at her side - just days after her last poignant piece for this newspaper.

Her sisters - Anne, 74, Denise, 72, Maureen, 69, and Coleen, 59 - were called to her bedside at 3.30am last Tuesday as doctors made the decision to place her in end-of-life care. The siblings, who lost their sister Bernie in 2013, kept a vigil by her bedside in her final hours.

Since her tragic death, doting sister Coleen shared the sweet final moments they spent with Linda, saying how these last memories are providing the family with some comfort.

Coleen tells The Mirror: "It’s been 10 days since my lovely sister Linda died and it’s still hard to believe she’s gone. As we prepare for her funeral, when she will be buried with her husband Brian’s ashes, I’m holding on to the memory of the last day I spent with her in hospital, which was full of love and laughter.

"My daughter Ciara and I sat with her and we said everything we needed to say to each other. She told us how much she loved us and we told her we loved her. I think she knew it would be the last time she’d see us, but there were no tears."

Despite her deteriorating health condition since Christmas, Linda was in good spirits, adds Coleen.

"Although she had double pneumonia and was on oxygen, she was cracking jokes, being her usual funny self and eating the chocolate people had brought her. She wanted to hear about my new grandson and I showed her lots of photos of him."

Linda's hospital bed was surrounded by her nearest and dearest: "So many people came to see her, including her best friend of 60 years, Suzanne, and her stepdaughter Sarah, and the whole family were at her bedside. The nurses kept telling her to rest, but Linda, being Linda, would not stop talking!"

Her last words to Coleen will be ones she remembers fondly: "When I left that evening, I told her I’d come and visit the next day and she said, “Oh, you don’t have to” and I said, “I know, but I will” and then she said, 'Col, I really love you'."

Eventually though, Coleen had to make the long drive home and knew it was possibly the last time she would see her sister.

"We were all exhausted and my sisters told me to go, as I had a two-hour drive home, so I gave Linda a big hug and a kiss, and I knew it would be the last time. When Maureen called the next morning to say Linda had died, I didn’t feel sad that I wasn’t there when she took her last breath because we’d got to spend that precious day together and I’m grateful for that."

The family are now making arrangements for the funeral, and Linda even shared her wishes before she passed.

"She wanted everyone in black, wearing mantillas," says Coleen, "those little lace veils that cover your face. I remember saying, 'You are joking, Linda! If I see all my sisters in mantillas, I’m going to laugh the whole way through the funeral!'

"We’ve decided not to do that, but we are wearing black. Her coffin is pure showbiz – bright pink and sparkly, just as she wanted. The one thing my sister loved was bling – her trainers had bling on them, her handbags, her tops, her walking stick – so it feels right that she has a glittery pink coffin."

Although she knew it wasn't likely, Coleen explains she had hopes that Linda might pull through one last time, saying: "Even though I knew she was gravely ill, I really thought she might pull through, as she always has…. In the early hours of the next morning, we were called back to the Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

"When I arrived at 5.30am, she was unconscious and we were told nothing more could be done. My brothers and sisters were all there – Tommy, Brian, Denise, Anne and Maureen. There were about 14 of us at her bedside with the curtains pulled round us and the hospital staff kept coming in with trays of tea and biscuits. They were incredible.

"Linda had signed a DNR and they turned off the monitors and started decreasing her oxygen, and gave her morphine so she wasn’t in pain. At 2pm, they said she’d probably go quickly, so there was devastation and sobbing, but we were still there at 9.30pm; she seemed determined to hang on."

When she was first diagnosed with breast cancer 20 years ago, Linda lost her husband Brian a few months later. He was the love of her life and they hadn’t spent a night apart for 29 years, says Coleen. "Then, two months later my mum died, all while Linda was having treatment. I don’t think many people could survive that, but she did".

But Linda put on a brave face throughout her health troubles. "When her cancer returned in 2020, it was never a case of “I’ve had enough”. Even when she was told the cancer – which had spread to her hip and brain – was treatable but not curable, she kept going.

"But the last time she saw her doctor and was told the chemo wasn’t working, her reaction was different. She was angry. Her legs were painful and she’d started to fall a lot, and was worried about going out. I’m heartbroken. She was meant to spend New Year at my house, but she was too ill and tired to make the journey."

Her death has brought back memories losing their other sister Bernie's in 2013. "Linda’s death has hit us hard and inevitably it’s brought back memories of the devastation we felt when our sister Bernie lost her battle with breast cancer in 2013."

The siblings have started a charity page for people to donate to Trinity Hospice, a fantastic local charity that provided care for Bernie and Linda. To pay your respects, visit their website .