Carol Cole Dies while Natalie Cole Goes Into Surgery
The joy of receiving a kidney transplant was damaged by tragedy for Natalie Cole when her older adopted sister, Carol Cole, died on Monday. While Natalie was preparing for the surgery, her sister passed away.
Carol Cole, 64, had been diagnosed with lung cancer just last week, and the two were together when Natalie received the news of an anonymous donor with a kidney. Shortly after Natalie left to have the surgery, Carol died. Natalie has been devastated from the tragic event, says Timolin Cole, her younger sister. She added that is has been so surreal.
Timolin told Page Six that Carol hadn’t seen a doctor in 3 decades, and when she went last week they found cancer in her lung. The doctors wanted to begin chemotherapy treatment right away, but she didn’t let them. Natalie was at Carol’s bedside when she got the phone call at 4am on Monday that a kidney was ready for her, Timolin continued.
Natalie didn’t want to do the transplant right then, because she want to stay with Carol, Timolin said, but the doctors told her that they had to do it, while Timolin told her that she should go. Natalie was battling hepatitis C from an addiction to drugs in the past, and she had to have kidney dialysis three times a week.
One of Natalie’s representatives described the events as a tragic coincidence. Cole’s father died of lung cancer as well in 1965, when Natalie was only 15 years old. The two sisters were raised together, but Carol was actually the star’s cousin.
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