Coleen Nolan shares sister Linda's last words to her before heartbreaking death

Much loved pop icon and TV personality Linda Nolan died last Wednesday, aged 65, after fighting secondary breast cancer for the past five years. She passed away with her famous sisters by her side.

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

Since her passing, younger sister Coleen has shared the loving final moments they spent with Linda, saying that these last memories are providing the family with some comfort.

Collen told 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."

Coleen also mentioned that Linda was in good spirits, despite her health deteriorating since Christmas. She said: "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."

As her condition got worse, Linda's hospital bed was surrounded by the ones she held closest to her heart: "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!"

Reminiscing on her last conversation with her older sister, her last words are ones she will remember 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'."

However, during her long drive home, Coleen felt that it was probably the last time she would ever 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."

As the family starts making the arrangements for the funeral, they are keeping in mind the wishes Linda shared before she passed - even though some of them may have been said to keep spirits up.

Coleen explained: "She wanted everyone in black, wearing mantillas, 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."

Even though it was unlikely, Coleen did have hopes that her big sister would be able to pull through one more time. She said: "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."

Sadly, when Linda was first diagnosed with breast cancer 20 years ago, her beloved husband - who she hadn't spent a night apart from in 29 years - passed away a few months later. Coleen added: "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".

Linda never expressed any sign of giving up throughout her battle with cancer. "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."

As the family lost their beloved sister, it brought back memories of Bernie and how she sadly lost her battle to the same disease in 2013. The siblings have started a charity page for the Trinity Hospice, which provided care for both Bernie and Linda. To pay your respects, visit their website.

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