Cardiff winner struggles with stage 4 breast cancer

The Belarusian soprano Nadine Koutcher, winner of the 2015 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, has been diagnosed in Minsk with advanced breast cancer and is appealing on her Facebook page for solidarity and help.

Nadine, who is 40, writes: My friends! No matter how hard it is to believe… but I have bad news. I have been diagnosed for the past month and yesterday July 20th I was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. To say that I am scared is an understatement. I really need your support because I can’t do it alone. Take care of your health, listen to your body, it always tells us if there is a problem with it, but we often write off symptoms for something not essential. From the bottom of my heart, I wish you all health and longevity!