Loose Women’s Coleen Nolan says she was left numb and angry after discovering another sibling has been hit with a cancer diagnosis. Her older brother Brian, 69, has revealed he has level 2 prostate cancer, and learned of the diagnosis just days after their sister Linda Nolan’s memorial in February. Linda, who passed away at 65, was the second Nolan sister to die from cancer, following Bernie Nolan’s death due to breast cancer in 2013 at just 52 years old. Older sister Anne, now 74, battled breast cancer in 2000, while Coleen spoke out about her own skin cancer scare two years ago. Sign up to OK!’s daily newsletter to get updates sent to your inbox for free
Brian kept his news private to protect his family
(Image: Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)
Despite the unwelcome news, Brian said his doctors were optimistic about his treatment. Shaken by the news, Loose Women panellist Coleen, who celebrated her 60th birthday recently, said: “I couldn’t speak. I went completely numb and about an hour later I wanted to punch walls and scream. In our family, cancer’s just there. But he was so positive and I’m just so proud of him.” The family is facing the ordeal with characteristic humour and unity, Coleen says, revealing: “We’re a family that treat everything with as much humour as possible and we go ‘OK, we can face this together.’ That’s what we’ll do.” Brian, once active behind the scenes with the Nolan Sisters act, was rocked by his diagnosis shortly after saying goodbye to Linda. He’s set on mirroring the bravery his sisters displayed as he starts his own battle with the illness, reports the Mirror.
Brian has already witnessed Bernie and Linda succumb to the disease
(Image: Daily Mirror)
Although the disease is widespread in their family, he confessed that hearing the diagnosis is never something one is prepared for. “You’re never ready for somebody to say, ‘Yes, you’ve got cancer’,” he said, adding, It’s like being hit by a train. You start plunging into the abyss of, ‘I’m going to die’. The urologist stood up and said ‘We’re going to treat this and we’re going to cure this’. I’m focusing on that and hope to God I can have the courage my sisters had.” Brian, who lives in Blackpool with his “rock” of a wife Ann, noticed late last year that his trips to the toilet had increased in frequency and his GP referred him for PSA tests (a blood screening for prostate cancer), followed by an MRI scan and a biopsy. He kept his diagnosis a secret from the rest of the family, who were already grieving for Linda, whose life was nearing its end. “I thought I was doing the right thing and I still do,” he explained. “It would have meant more tears and we were already knee-deep in tears and knee-deep in grief.”
Cancer has had a devastating impact on the Nolan family
(Image: Daily Mirror)
Despite dealing with his own health, Brian now wants to spread awareness – especially amongst men – of the signs and symptoms of prostate cancer, which is responsible for the deaths of around 12,000 men in the UK annually. “I will advocate for an annual campaign where guys get sent a letter reminding them to have a PSA test,” he shared. “What has happened to me has made me philosophical in a short time and angry really because I didn’t really know anything about prostates and I’m 69 years of age. The symptoms are very well hidden and they’re slow-growing tumours.”
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