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Peter Kay has left people moved with an incredible gesture to a fan who died from cancer, with her mum saying the comedian is a ‘legend’ for what he did.
Kay kicked off a string of new tour dates at Manchester AO Arena this weekend, marking a triumphant return with his ‘Better Late Than Never’ show - which started last December and continues next month.
Among the audience one evening was a woman called Nicola, the mum of Laura Nuttall, the terminal cancer patient who made headlines when Peter Kay took her out for lunch.
Nuttall, from Barrowford, Lancashire, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer back in 2018, having been given a prognosis of just 12 months.
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After far surpassing her life expectancy, she sadly passed away at the age of 23 earlier this year.
In November last year, Kay took Nuttall and her family out for a meal at The White Swan in Lancashire.
“Today’s joy has been a very special treat, the most wonderful lunch at @whiteswan_fence with #PeterKay for company,” her mum said at the time.
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"Laughter won’t cure #Glioblastoma but it’s definitely a blimmin’ good distraction for a couple of hours.”
She described Kay as ‘the nicest, most thoughtful and naturally hilarious person’ and said: "We're lucky to have him as a friend."
The year before, Kay also played his first gig in four years to help raise money for Nuttall's treatment, performing two sell-out gigs at Manchester’s O2 Apollo.
Now, Kay has paid tribute to his late friend in his new tour, with mum Nicola taking to Twitter to express her gratitude.
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"Such a brilliant night watching Peter Kay in Manchester, we laughed till our faces hurt and my goodness we needed it!" she said.
"Couldn't have been more surprised when he mentioned Laura and her foundation. Thank you Peter you are truly a legend x."
She had also previously praised Kay for his support, saying the sell-out gigs in aid of Nuttall’s treatment ‘meant the world’ to the family.
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She said: "It means the world to me because we were lying in bed at night thinking, 'How on earth are we going to be able to do this again?' because the tumour came back in March, which then puts you really back at square one.
"I was just thinking, 'Well, we're going to have to move, we're going to have to just try and work out how we are going to work it out, how we're going to afford it', and this just takes the pressure off so much.
"We can not worry about that, we can just worry about the treatment that's going to best help Laura.
"We're so grateful to Peter."
Jess Hardiman