Peter Kay: Woman who inspired comeback dies of cancer aged 23

Laura Nuttall, the woman who helped inspire Peter Kay's live comeback, has died at the age of 23 following a lengthy battle with cancer.

Nuttall was initially diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer in 2018 after going for an eye test and was given just one year to live.

Read more: Cancer patient praises Peter Kay for raising money for her treatment

But she defied all of the doctor's expectations and in 2021, Kay performed a series of gigs – his first in years – to raise money for her treatment.

Nuttall's death was confirmed by her mother on Twitter where she wrote: "I'm heartbroken to share the news that we lost our beautiful Laura in the early hours of this morning.

"She was fierce & tenacious to the end & it was truly the honour of my life to be her mum. We are devastated at the thought of life without our girl, she was a force of nature."

Watch below: Why Peter Kay is coming back to the stage

Addressing Kay's bid to raise money for treatment overseas, Nuttall said in 2021: "He’s such a nice person, he’s an absolute gentleman and he just wants to help everyone anyway he can.

"Honestly, anything you’ve heard about him doesn’t do him justice. He’s such a nice man and I feel so honoured he’s going to do this, his first performance in years, for me."

Kay performed two Doing It For Laura gigs in August 2021 at Manchester's O2 Apollo. Tickets for the performances sold out within 30 minutes and represented the first time he had performed a gig in 10 years.

After being diagnosed with cancer, Nuttall assembled a bucket list of things she wanted to do including meet Michelle Obama and present the weather on the BBC, both of which she did.

Kay is currently on his Better Late Than Never tour across the UK which will last until 2025.