Mother meets superstar who inspired her fight against cancer

HE was the one person who gave Edinburgh mother Nicola Wilson real hope that she could survive leukaemia.

During weeks of chemotherapy she would gaze at his picture and read and re-read his words on how he beat the disease.

Now the 36-year-old is to finally meet her inspiration - world-renowned opera singer Jose Carreras - as he gives a free concert for her and 40 other sufferers at the Usher Hall.

Her husband Tommy, 46, and two sons Thomas, eight, and Scott, five, gave her strength as she struggled to come to terms with doctors’ predictions that she would die within five years.

But the opera legend was the only person she knew of who had beaten the devastating cancer.

Mrs Wilson, of Groathill Road North, Drylaw, is recovering from a bone marrow transplant which she hopes will mimic his successful operation and extend her life.

"I’m so excited, I’m absolutely delighted to be seeing him," she said. "When I was diagnosed last November my sister copied his words and picture on his internet site and I used to read it when I was in hospital. You see a lot of awful things and he was the only person I knew that had got through everything and was all right. He was such an inspiration and I just thought: ‘If he can do it, I can’."

Carreras, 54, contracted leukaemia but recovered after a successful bone marrow operation. His experience prompted him to set up a charity to fund research into a cure and he has given numerous concerts in aid of research into the disease.

About 40 leukaemia sufferers, mainly from the Lothians, will hear him sing free tonight and get a chance to speak to him as he rehearses for the sell-out fundraising concert before a 2400-crowd tomorrow.

Tickets for the glittering event, priced from £35 to £150, sold out within minutes with 10,000 people fighting for a chance to see him sing. It is hoped the concert will raise between £200,000 and £300,000.

Around 600 people have paid up to £350 for a seat and a place at a special after-show dinner with the tenor at the National Museum of Scotland. Special guests are set to include former Scottish rugby star and fellow cancer sufferer Gordon Brown.

They all owe the privilege of seeing the Spanish superstar sing live in Scotland to West Lothian grandmother Betsy Stirling, who invited Carreras to sing for leukaemia research after losing her husband, opera-fan Sheriff Hamish Stirling, to the disease.

Speaking before the concert, the great tenor said he was delighted and honoured to have been asked to perform.

He said: "The fact that all the tickets have been sold and that we expect to raise a phenomenal sum of cash for leukaemia charities speaks well of the generosity of everyone concerned."

Thrilled

Tomorrow’s performance will be the tenor’s first Edinburgh concert for almost 20 years and Mrs Stirling hopes it will convince more international stars to perform in Edinburgh.

She said: "I’m flabbergasted, shattered and just thrilled to bits that it is all happening. I’m delighted that Carreras will be meeting some of the leukaemia sufferers.

"He is a such a lovely man and he’s been through so much himself I think he will give people a lot of encouragement."

Edinburgh jeweller Michael Laing, of Laings, Frederick Street, was one of the businessmen who set up the Jose Carreras Charity Concert Committee with Mrs Stirling.

He said: "If anybody meets Jose Carreras they realise that he seriously is a very good man and he is absolutely dedicated to making things better for leukaemia sufferers.

"His charity is the largest in the world and co-ordinates scientific research to bring a cure for leukaemia."

He also paid tribute to businesses which have supported the event.

The concert tomorrow is due to be televised on BBC1 on Sunday night and will mark the official reopening of the Usher Hall in Lothian Road after its multi-million pound refurbishment.

Use of the hall has been given free-of-charge by Edinburgh City Council to help boost the fundraising total.

Mr Carreras will perform both classics and hits from musical shows with Aberdeen soprano Lisa Milne and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

A hotline for donations to Leukaemia Research Trust Scotland has been set up on 0870-242 3232.

Carreras will also put in an appearance at Napier University today as he accepts an honorary doctorate of arts degree. It will be the first time he has accepted an honorary degree from a Scottish university.

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