`I'M NOT SCARED OF DYING, I'M SCARED OF LEAVING MY KIDS'

COLEEN NOLAN OPENS UP TO OK!'S MICHELLE GARNETT ABOUT THE HEARTBREAKING DECISION SHE FACES

- MICHELLE GARNETT

Television star Coleen Nolan has a big decision to make – one that could potentially mean the difference between life and death.

Back in April her family received devastating news. Her sister Anne’s breast cancer had returned 20 years after she first overcame the disease. Just a few days later, their other sister, Linda, had her own heartache to share. Her breast cancer – which had metastasised to her hip and pelvis in 2017 – had spread to her liver.

“When Anne rung me with her terrible news, I had to pass the phone to my daughter because I just broke down,” Coleen tells OK!. “Then, less than a week later, Linda phoned. It was just awful. Absolutely shocking.”

Thankfully, five months on, Anne, 69, is doing well and there’s no trace of the lump, although she still faces surgery and possibly radiotherapy. Linda, 61, has just completed her chemotherapy treatment and is, in Coleen’s words, facing her illness “magnificently”.

“It’s a nightmare, but they keep battling on. Three of my sisters have had cancer now, and sadly one passed away,” says Coleen referring to Bernie, lead singer of their group The Nolans, who died in 2013 after initially beating breast cancer.

The pattern of tragedy isn’t lost on the Loose Women star, or on her two other sisters, Maureen, 66, and Denise, 68. But it’s Coleen, 55, who’s seriously considering taking preventative action with a double mastectomy. “It’s a really big operation and my sisters were quite shocked when I told them, but they’ve also been very supportive,” explains Coleen, who’s currently single following her divorce from second husband Ray Fensome.