Yahoo News Linda Nolan: 'I'm alive this week to meet my new great-niece - every day means everything'
Linda Nolan has hailed the bravery and courage of a group representing the lives lost to advanced breast cancer every day in the UK after they went topless in Westminster to raise demand the approval of a "life-extending" drug.
Speaking in her latest column in the Mirror, the 65-year-old from Blackpool said the group included actress and Loose Women presenter Nadia Sawalha. She said: "Thirty-one people a day lose their lives to secondary, advanced breast cancer in the UK. I still can’t believe it, and I’m going to be one of them."
The former Nolans group singer said "seeing 31 sets of boobs let loose in Westminster can’t help but underline the point". She added: "Parliament has had a lot to say, but those stunning bosoms have voiced the only thing worth listening to as far as I’m concerned.
READ MORE: Coleen Nolan reveals why her dad's relationship with booze 'left her scared'
"Hats (and bras) off to Nadia Sawalha and the group of women who went topless, some of whom are, like me, living with secondary breast cancer, and who have undergone mastectomies. This was no joke: their brave stand was made to extend lives – including many of their own, and maybe mine."
The campaigners have been calling for the drug Enhertu to be licensed for use in England for women with a particular type of secondary breast cancer. The drug, which has already been licensed in Scotland, can extend life by months, and Linda said "it makes me so angry saying it out loud" that people in England are "denied it".
Continuing her column, she said: "While I’m waiting to find out if I’m medically suitable for it, many of these women, including Nadia’s good friend, Hannah, know they are. Yet they have zero control over getting it – and with cancer, you have precious little control already. A few months doesn’t sound like much. To me, and people like me, every day means everything. It is why we fight.
"The fact I am alive this week means I will get to meet my new great-niece, who was born on Wednesday. More weeks will mean more lunches with my school friends, more bingo with my sisters. Maybe even wins. The new Government seems to value women, so I plead with them to listen. I’m in awe of these fabulous ladies and want to thank them.
Nadia’s close friend Hannah Gardner, who has incurable breast cancer, was also at Parliament calling for Enhertu to be made available on the NHS. Campaigners have been lobbying decision-makers for months after learning that the pioneering drug had been blocked for use in England.
Nadia, 59, said: "Our message to the decision-makers is ‘you have the power. Let’s see it. Show us you care because this could be your mother, your sister, your daughter’."
