Dame Deborah James, host of the BBC’s You, Me and the Big C podcast, died aged 40.
James was a mother of two. She battled bowel cancer that she was diagnosed with in 2016.
She passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family.
James was an advocate for cancer awareness, and her recognition for cancer fundraising brought her a damehood.
She shared her personal struggles with cancer in order to “raise awareness, break down barriers, challenge taboos and change the conversation around cancer,” her family said.
“Even in her most challenging moments, her determination to raise money and awareness was inspiring.”
Following her diagnosis, after which she was only given two years to live by the doctors, James, who beat the odds and lived six years more than that, started a blog, Bowel Babe.
Through her blog, she tried to fight the taboos surrounding the life with this condition and was given a column in The Sun the following year.
This cherished deputy head teacher who specialized in computer science and e-learning started the You, Me and the Big C podcast on BBC along with fellow cancer fighters Lauren Mahon and Rachael Bland, who died in 2019, a year after the podcast started.
In her first book that was published in 2018, F*** You Cancer: How to Face the Big C, Live Your Life, and Still Be Yourself, James addressed her children, Hugo and Eloise, who were nine and seven when she received her devastating diagnosis.
“Hugo and Eloise, you are my world. You are my everything and I love you beyond comprehension. Know that whatever happens I am with you, I’m at your side and I believe you can do anything you want to do. I’m so proud of you and all I ask for you in life is to make the most of every single day,” she wrote.
James’ Bowelbabe Fund that she set up in order to fund medical research into personalised medicine for cancer patients and to raise awareness of bowel cancer raised over £1m in the first month.
Dame Deborah James was an exceptional woman. May she rest in peace.
