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Home / Lifestyle

Nolan sisters Linda and Anne receive cancer news just days apart

NZ Herald
3 Aug, 2020 07:24 PM3 mins to read

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Linda and Anne Nolan were both diagnosed with cancer within days of each other. Photo / Supplied

Linda and Anne Nolan were both diagnosed with cancer within days of each other. Photo / Supplied

Sisters Linda and Anne Nolan have performed on stage for years as Irish girl group the Nolans.

But now the sisters are going through a very different experience together, enduring chemotherapy together at Blackpool's Victoria Hospital, according to the Sun.

Linda and Anne received cancer diagnoses within days of each other after returning home from filming their hit TV series The Nolans Go Cruising.

"We laughed and we cried really. It's hysterical," Linda said.

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"Forget the Chemical Brothers, we've become the Chemo Sisters."

Both sisters have vowed to beat their cancer, as they've both had to confront the disease before when their sister Bernie died in 2013.

Anne, 69, is mum to children Amy, 39, and Alex, 32, and has three grandchildren.

"I don't want to die, I love my life so much," she said.

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"I love my daughters, my grandchildren, my friends, all my family. I want to live for as long as I possibly can.

"I am scared of dying as well. Even though I believe in God, I'm still scared."

Linda said, "On May 7 our sister Maureen called me at 10am to say that Anne's breast cancer had been confirmed.

"Then half an hour later my oncologist's secretary phoned me to say, 'We need you to have an MRI scan because we've seen something on your liver.'

The sisters are known for performing as Irish girl group The Nolans. Photo / Getty Images
The sisters are known for performing as Irish girl group The Nolans. Photo / Getty Images

"I couldn't tell anyone then because they were so obviously devastated about Anne.

"I thought, 'I can't turn around now and say, 'Actually I've got it back as well'.'"

Anne has stage three breast cancer, and it's not the first time she's faced the disease.

"My first cancer was diagnosed in April 2000."

Linda says their first chemo session together on June 5 was "really weird".

"We were sitting talking and they gave Anne one of her chemos and she had a bad reaction to one of the drugs.

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"That was really scary because all of a sudden she couldn't breathe properly. And I'm sitting there thinking, 'My god, I'm next'."

"I keep telling myself the chemo is horrible, but hopefully it's doing its job," Anne said.

"And it's not a case of being brave. I'm not brave. I haven't been brave at all – I've been crying and probably stressing my sisters and my daughters.

"So I'm not brave. I just haven't got any choice.

"Either I do it, take chemo, or face the consequences."

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